Traffication: how cars destroy nature and what we can do about it
By Paul F. Donald
Pelagic Publishing, 2023
Hbk, 279pp; several black-and-white photographs
ISBN 978-1-78427-444-3; £19.99
Cars kill wildlife. From deer and foxes to frogs and birds, not to mention an innumerable – and often overlooked – number of insects. But, as Traffication points out, roadkill is just the start of the problems that cars and roads cause for wildlife. For animals that don’t cross roads, a multi-lane strip of tarmac is as good as a fence for keeping them on one side or the other; and then there’s the noise pollution, the gas emissions and the other negative effects that roads have on wildlife and the wider ecosystem, many of which may not be immediately obvious.
A scientist for BTO, RSPB and BirdLife International, Paul Donald has succeeded here in writing a book that is as readable and fascinating as it is informative and eye-opening; one that is an essential read for anyone who cares about the natural world. It’s not all doom and gloom, though; the book concludes by offering some hope for the future. All in all, this may prove to be one of the most unexpectedly important books that you read this year.
Stephen Menzie