Conservation policy is necessarily imperfect, as it always targets a compromise between the contrasting needs of nature and society. A frequent source of conflict is how to develop a traffic network while trying to minimise its negative effects on the connectivity of natural habitats. Roads must be frequently considered as impenetrable barriers for many species, while migration is important for these species, if not the only remaining key to their survival. Both the traffic system and the landscape inhabited by various species may be regarded and analysed as large-scale units. Network analysis provides various tools for providing quantitative, measurable compromises. It helps in setting conservation priorities objectively by ranking each forest patch according to a measure of importance.
