French village implements temporary road closures to protect frogs
The initiative aims to save up to 50 amphibians per night from being crushed
A 300-metre section of road will be closed on rainy nights to help protect amphibians
Evelyn Kobben/Shutterstock
A village in France has become the latest to implement a temporary road closure initiative in a bid to protect frogs and toads from traffic during their breeding season.
A 300-metre section of road between Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux and la Noue (Seine-et-Marne) will be closed on rainy nights until March 15, 2025, from 19:30 to 07:30.
This is because frogs and toads cross the road as part of their migration and breeding season habits at this time of year, and risk getting crushed by vehicles in the process. Frogs tend to travel 50-100 metres, while toads can travel up to 1 kilometre. Newts and salamanders are also at risk.
The initiative is being led by Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux locals (Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France) Charly Thomassin and his partner Christelle Bès.
“We close [the road] at night because they rarely come out during the day, and only in rainy weather, because they don't come out of the woods if it is not raining, as they need to keep their skin moist,” said Mr Thomassin to local newspaper Le Pays Briard.
Read also: Brittany town permanently closes road so toads and frogs can cross
Read more: Route in east France closed to allow frogs to mate safely
‘50 toads and frogs run over every night’
A similar operation was carried out in the same place last year, but only for 15 days. This year the operation is being extended to cover a longer period in a bid to save even more animals.
More than 50 toads and frogs were run over every night before the measure was put in place last year, said Mr Thomassin. Observations showed that around 30 of each species were attempting to cross the road per hour.
“It was quite shocking. You only had to drive past the road in the morning to see loads of corpses,” he said. “So if we save 50 a night [with this year’s initiative], that's not bad.”
Several local associations, such as La Brie des Jardins and CPIE Boucles de la Marne / AVEN du Grand-Voyeux are actively involved in the project. The mairie has also provided barriers and signs to help with the road closure, and several volunteers are taking part to man the road during rainy nights. Altogether, there are about 10 participants.
“The mairie gives us a lot of support, which is quite rare,” said Mr Thomassin. He said that other solutions, such as constructing vehicle tunnels, could also work, but these would be more expensive and complex to implement and monitor.
Local volunteers and events
The team is still accepting volunteers to help if you are in the area. You can contact Christelle by email if you are interested in taking part.
Read also: Call for volunteers to help thousands of toads cross busy French road
