Nature as infrastructure; the National Ecological Network and wildlife-crossing structures in the Netherlands

This study deals with planning, design, and policy techniques employed by the Dutch to implement wildlife-crossing structures. To understand the necessity for ecoducts in the Netherlands one must examine them in the broader context of landscape planning. Firstly, a philosophical discussion is given examining three interconnected frameworks: landscape planning, the National Ecological Network and wildlife mitigations. The second part explores the conceptual framework for planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of wildlife-crossing structures, and then uses two existing structures as a case-study. At least some broad observations and comparisons are made between the Netherlands and the US landscape planning and mitigation efforts.