LIFE Bears with future

On Thursday 16th February, a wide representation of broadcasting media, covering national, regional and local press participated in a session held in the Alto Sil, León, to learn first-hand about the progress of the LIFE Osos con Futuro project actions. This meeting was held in the Coworking Centre of Caboalles de Arriba, in the Villablino municipality and where, following a welcome by the Councillor of the Environment, the participants received information from the three partners of the project: Guillermo Palomero, the Brown Bear Foundation president, covered how climate change affects bears and the production of the wild fruits on which they feed, in addition to an introduction to the project’s objectives and actions; Víctor Gutiérrez, coordinator for the ecosystem conservation and restauration team of the Biodiversity Foundation, talked about the joint efforts between the administrations and organisations for the recovery of emblematic species such as the brown bear; and Eduardo Álvarez, the coordinator for León of the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León , explained what the network of demonstration forest patches for the adaptation to climate change and to fruiting being developed within the project framework consists of.

The animated video “Recommendations for visiting the brown bear mountains”, also developed within this LIFE project, was screened after these explanations, providing a pleasant and visual means of spreading the best practices to be adopted to safely enjoy spare time activities in mountains with bear presence.

The visit continued in the municipalities of Palacios del Sil and Páramo del Sil to learn about the work of planting fruit trees and sweet chestnuts, where the reporters had time to carry out interviews, observe the work being carried out by the forestry teams of local workers and even to collaborate in the planting of a sweet chestnut tree.

Following a lunch break, a field trip in bear territory was organised in order to explain, in situ,  the recommendations and guidelines to follow to avoid potential conflicts.

A total of 15 different reporters from 9 national, 3 regional, 2 provincial and 1 local media outlets attended, although the remainder of the nearby local media of El Bierzo and Laciana, especially radio, using the opportunity of the meeting to give live interviews via mobile phone calls. Representatives from the written press, agencies, digital media, radio and television were all present.

The project outreach was highly significant thanks to the hundred or so media impacts that the meeting generated.

The visit was organised in coordinated fashion by the three project partners: Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León (Castilla y León regional government) and the coordinating body, the Brown Bear Foundation.

The Government of Asturias and the Tierra Pura Foundation also collaborate in the project.

Within the framework of the LIFE Osos con Futuro project, the Brown Bear Foundation (FOP) has signed collaboration agreements with the hunting federations of Asturias, Castilla y León and Cantabria. The objective in all these cases is to inform and raise awareness amongst their members, so that the hunting activities in winter are carried out in the safest possible manner for both the hunters and the bears.

The hunting federations with which agreements have been signed within the LIFE project framework are:

• Cantabrian Hunting Federation
• Castilla y León Hunting Federation
• Principality of Asturias Hunting Federation

The FOP is preparing specific material for this collective. More precisely, an animated video and a digital infograph are in preparation which will be distributed to the federations and also available via the general information channels of these federations and the FOP. These informative actions will be backed up with presential meetings with hunters in which the recommendations for hunting in bear areas will be presented and debated.

Signing of collaboration agreements with the hunting federations of Asturias, Castilla y León and Cantabria

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

Within the framework of the LIFE Osos con Futuro project, the Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) has signed collaboration agreements with the mountain sports federations of Asturias, Castilla y León and Cantabria. The objective in all these cases is to inform and raise awareness, so that the practice of these activities in winter is carried out in the safest manner possible for both the participants and the bears.

Global warming favours either a reduction in the hibernation of the brown bear, or leads to no hibernation at all. Additionally, coinciding with a greater winter presence of active bears, outdoors recreational activities are also increasing, especially in winter as a result of a warmer climate. This convergence may increase the possibilities of encounters and interactions between bears and humans, hence the necessity to inform about the best practices to avoid them.

The FOP has produced an animated video for this collective, the “Recommendations for visiting the brown bear mountains”, which is being widely broadcast in conjunction with the mountain sports federations. A digital information infograph is being finalised which will be distributed to all of these federations. In order to finalise these actions, a series of routes will be developed during which a FOP specialist will explain in situ the best mountaineering practices to undertake in bear areas.

The mountain sports federations with which agreements have been signed within the LIFE project framework are:

• Castilla y León Mountain Sports, Climbing and Hiking Federation
• Principality of Asturias Mountain Sports, Climbing and Hiking Federation
• Cantabrian Mountain Sports and Climbing Federation

Recreational activity in winter in a mountain with bears

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

The first campaign of trophic enrichment plantations for the brown bear was started on 12 December 2022 in the Alto Sil area of León, within the LIFE Osos con futuro project framework and which by the end will comprise the planting of 150 thousand fruit trees and 25 thousand sweet chestnut trees occupying a total of 200 hectares spread across different parts of Castilla y León and Asturias.

The plantations are being made in the public utility lands belonging to the Anllares del Sil local council, in the municipality of Páramo del Sil and of the public mountains of Palacios del Sil. Planting will also be undertaken in land belonging to the Anllarinos del Sil local council, other areas of Páramo del Sil, as well as in private estates of both municipalities. A land custody agreement guaranteeing the long-term presence of these plantations is signed with each landowner prior to work commencing. Planting will also be undertaken in those farmlands acquired with LIFE funds.

Selection of the areas for planting was first undertaken by the project via suitability studies based on plant species and land characteristics in relation to climate change.

Fruit plantation in Páramo del Sil, with local workers hired under the LIFE project. In the center, Elías Suárez, from the FOP.

Local teams started preparing the ground in October 2022 for the hole digging and scrub clearance using a walking excavator, a machine which is able to reach difficult-to-access areas and work on steep slopes, but which produces a minimum impact on the terrain and the existing vegetation. This mechanised labour guarantees the clearance of large amounts of soil for each hole, greatly facilitating the rootstock development of the plants.

The tree and shrub species being planted, the fruits of which serve as food for the brown bear from the end of spring through to the start of winter, are cherry, apple, alder buckthorn, rowan and whitebeams, while chestnut planting will also start very shortly. Collection programs of native wild seeds for the nursery production of seedlings have been undertaken since the start of the project. Two forestry teams, each comprising three men and three women from the immediate area, have been contracted, contributing to local job creation. A total of close to 70,000 fruiting trees and shrubs are planned to be planted during this first plantation campaign, which will be completed between the end of March and start of April, depending on meteorological conditions.

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

How can the Pyrenean brown bear population be helped by experiences acquired with the Cantabrian brown bear?

With this objective in mind, an exchange meeting with other international brown bear specialists was recently held in the French locality of Villeneuve de Riviére, organised by the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), under the authority of the French Ministries for Ecological Transition, Agriculture and Food.

Even though both the Cantabrian and Pyrenees brown bear populations are growing, the former started recovering earlier (with around 350 bears in the last census of 2019), and the lessons which have been learned from each new challenge which has arisen can be exploited for smaller populations, such as that in the Pyrenees (around 70 individuals in the 2021 census).

During this meeting, the Fundación Oso Pardo presented its scientific research work directed towards brown bear conservation, in addition to the current work being undertaken by the LIFE Osos con Futuro project, the objective of which is to improve the adaptability of the species in the face of climate change in the Cantabrian mountains.

Presenting the projects of Fundación Oso Pardo during the networking

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

The actions of the LIFE Bears with Future project have aroused great interest among visitors to the Castilla y León Ecotourism Fair, Naturcyl, which this year has held its fifth edition between September 23rd and 25th at its usual venue, the town Ruesga, in the Palencia Mountains.

This is an area of ​​special interest for LIFE Bears with Future, as it is home to a large part of the bear population of the eastern Cantabrian Mountains and is a growing focus of attraction for hikers and other users of leisure activities in the mountains. For this reason, information has been offered on the recommendations for touring these mountains, emphasizing that they are also applicable in winter, due to the impact of climate change on the progressive reduction of bear hibernation.

Begoña Almeida, member of the Eastern Cantabrian Bear Patrol, offers information to visitors to the Naturcyl Fair at the stand of the Fundación Oso Pardo

The stand of the Oso Pardo Foundation has also offered information on the forestry work and plantations that are carried out in the LIFE project in climate change scenarios:

• Plantation of fruit trees to increase trophic availability for bears
• Plantation of native chestnut varieties to increase trophic availability for bears
• Restoration and treatment of chestnut forests to increase fruit production and climate resilience.

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

Starting this summer, the informative exhibition “Los osos de Arbolio” that the Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) maintains permanently next to the Valporquero Cave, in León, incorporates three information panels on the LIFE Bears with Future project.The panels explain, with the support of visual elements, how climate change impacts the lives of Cantabrian bears, and what actions the LIFE project is developing to help the species adapt to this new scenario. The central panel houses a monitor on which the animated video «Advices for visiting the mountains of the brown bear» is projected, produced as part of the project, executed by The Glow Animation Studio, from the Glow production company.

Panels of the LIFE Bears with Future project in the facilities associated with the Valporquero Cave

The exhibition is free of charge and is located in the adjacent facilities associated with the Valporquero Cave.

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

In the month of July 2022, the different Official Seed Sources declared for the collection of cherry (Prunus avium) seeds in León and Asturias were visited to assess the quantity and condition of the fruit produced this season. Unlike the previous year 2021, in which 140 kg of cherries were collected from different Seed Sources in the province of León, this year 2022 has seen low fruit production in many areas of León, linked to late spring frosts that damaged flowering, and yet the existence of a good harvest has been confirmed in some areas of south western Asturias.

For this reason, on July 5 and 6, 2022, the LIFE field team, with the collaboration of the bear patrols of the Fundación Oso Pardo in Asturias, collected 52kg of cherry fruits from trees in the Official Seed Source FS/95/04/33/003, in Taladrid, in the Asturian municipality of Ibias, and on July 13 another 26 kg of cherry fruits were collected in the Official Seed Source FS/95/04/33/001 in San Martín de Eiros, in the Asturian municipality of Cangas del Narcea. The works have been carried out under the supervision of the Seed Sources responsible of the Principado de Asturias (SERPA Services Society) and with the corresponding authorization from the Forestry Service.

The fruits have been transferred to the Central Forest Nursery of the Junta de Castilla y León, where the seeds will be cleaned and prepared for plant production. The cherry tree is a regulated species, so only specimens from seeds collected in forest stands declared as Seed Sources can be planted and all the seed collected must be certified by the corresponding administration, to guarantee the suitability of the origin and the traceability of the plant production process. At a later date, attempts will be made to complete the collection and at the end of summer other seeds of interest will be collected, such as buckthorn (Frangula alnus) or whitebeam (Sorbus aria).

In addition, this summer samples of ripe cherries are being collected from different trees located in bear areas and that have been visited by the bear in this or previous seasons for a nutritional content study that will be carried out in collaboration with the Food Technology Department of the University of Vigo.

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

The project LIFE Bears with Future launches a new cartoon video presenting usefull advice to visit bear mountains that can be helpfull to improve safety of both bears and visitors. It is part of the information campaign of the project, which develops different conservation actions for the Cantabrian bear under the current and foreseen climate change scenarios.

The aim of the video is to contribute to the compatibility between recreational activities in natural areas and the presence of bears in a context such as the current one, in which both these activities and the bear population are increasing. The LIFE project highlights the importance of expanding information actions also during the winter. The rise in winter temperatures in the mountains due to climate change will predictably affect bear hibernation, shortening it or even making bears not to hibernate at all, wich means there will be more active bears in the mountains.

The video also addresses the recommendations on how to act when encountering a bear, even if a bluff charge or a very exceptional attack occurs. It should be stressed that in Europe bears avoid contact with people, and they usually detect us well in advance, discreetly moving away from the place without the person realizing it in most cases. However, in case of a fortuitous encounter, one should never react aggressively or shout, or try to approach the bear because this actions could be identify as a threat.

The cartoon format of the story and its style aimed at all audiences seek to disseminate the messages. As the recommendations are similar in most of the European bear populations, an English translation of the video has been made to facilitate its use in other areas and agreements are being established to make versions in other languages. The animation video has been carried out by The Glow Animation Studio, recognized, among other awards, with the European Film Award and a Goya from the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The original idea and the script have been conceived by the FOP.

A coordinated project

The “Bears with Future” Project, co-financed by the European Union LIFE Project, will be carried out until 2025. It is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation in partnership with the Biodiversity Foundation (Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge), and the Natural heritage Foundation of the Castilla y León regional government. The Government of Asturias is co-financer, via the Directorate General for the Environment and Rural Planning, of the Department of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Tierra Pura Foundation collaborates technically and co-finances the project.

As part of the networking actions and exchange of experiences between LIFE projects, in May 2022 two teams of technicians and managers of the Andalusian Government in the LIFE Lynxconnect project have made two visits to the Cantabrian Mountains to learn about the experiences carried out in the framework of the LIFE “Bears with Future” project and different aspects of the management and conservation of the brown bear.

The visits of the LIFE Lynxconnect teams took place from May 3 to 6 and 16 to 19, visiting different work areas in Laciana (León) and the natural parks of Somiedo and Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias (Asturias) accompanied by Fundación Oso Pardo technicians and field patrols. In addition to field trips and sharing experiences on the ground, several debate meetings and project presentations have been held in collaboration with the Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León (May 6 at the Casa del Parque de Babia y Luna in Riolago and May 17 at the Capercaillie Center in Caboalles de Arriba) and exchange of ideas on carnivore damage management in collaboration with the General Directorate of the Natural Environment and Rural Planning of the Principado de Asturias (May 4 and May 19, at the Visitors Centre of the Somiedo Natural Park). Environmental and technical agents from the Principado de Asturias and the Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León, researchers from the Joint Institute for Biodiversity Research (CSIC-Oviedo University-Principado de Asturias) and the Fundación Cesefor and visiting agents from the Cos de Banders corps of the Government of Andorra. In addition to the LIFE Lynxconnect and LIFE Bears with Future projects, aspects of interest from the LIFE Safe Crossing, LIFE SoriaForestAdapt and H2020 Superb projects have been presented and discussed.

The visits have made it possible to exchange ideas and practices related to the conservation of these species and their habitats, conflict management and the resolution of the new challenges generated by the recovery of the Iberian lynx and brown bear populations.

Teams of the LIFE Bears with Future project beneficiaries and technicians from the Andalusian Government in the LIFE Lynxconnect project in a field day in the Cantabrian Mountains.19