The National Environment Board (NEB) has approved a long-delayed three-billion-baht plan to build a "wildlife corridor" to aid wild animals crossing Highway No.304 which cuts through the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest complex in Prachin Buri province.
The project was one of the 24 issues approved by the NEB which held its first meeting since the May 22 military coup on Wednesday.
The meeting was chaired by Adm Narong Pipatanasai, navy commander and deputy chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
The wildlife corridor will consist of both overhead land bridges and tunnels to enable wild animals to cross the highway safely.
One of the overhead bridges, 570 metres in length, will be constructed at kilometre marker No.27 while another, 500 metres in length, will be built between kilometre markers No.42 and 55.
Two small tunnels, 250 metres and 180 metres long, will both be constructed at kilometre marker No.29.
A source in the Highways Department, which designed the wildlife corridor, said the agency will need to work closely with the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department to work out how to get wild animals to use the passages.
The corridor was recommended by the World Heritage Committee to help reduce the number of animals killed in road traffic accidents.
The Highways Department is expected to start construction of the project next year and complete it in three years, the source said.
The department had spent five years studying the movements of wildlife before coming up with the overhead landbridge-tunnel combination for gaurs, deer and bears crossing the four-lane highway.
The small tunnels were designed for small animals such as reptiles and amphibians.
Adm Narong said although the project's environmental impact study has been approved, NEB members yesterday still expressed concern the corridor would become a hunting spot for poachers.
The World Heritage Committee last month expressed concern over the delay in the project and called on Thailand to speed it up.
The NEB yesterday also approved an environment impact study for a dual-track railway project from Jira to Khon Kaen, which is under the infrastructure development programme supported by the NCPO.
The board also approved a proposal to build a 28-kilometre bypass road around Lop Buri provincial town.