LIFE Bears with future

On November 15 and 16, 2021, the final conference of the LIFE Amybear project “Improving Human-Bear Coexistence Conditions in the Municipality of Amyntaio” was held, combining a meeting in Amyntaio (Greece) and the online participation of specialists from other European projects. The conference has been organized by LEVER Development Consultants SA, coordinating entity of the project, together with the specialized NGO “CALLISTO” and the administrations of Epirus-West Macedonia and the municipality of Amyntaio (Greece).

The objectives and proposals of the LIFE Bears with Future project were presented at the meeting, along with other projects recently developed by the Brown Bear Foundation, and the project coordinator has participated in a specific session on proposals and solutions to prevent conflicts between humans and bears addressing the forecasts of greater conflict in the face of the effects of climate change and the solutions proposed in the LIFE Bears with Future project.

 More information:

https://conference.lifeamybear.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/LIFE-AMYBEAR-CONFERENCE-Human-%E2%80%93-Bear-Coexistence_final.pdf

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.

On October 28 and 29, 2021, the networking event «What if the brown bear returns?» (www.ursopardo.pt) has been celebrated in Bragança (Portugal) with a meeting and exchange of experiences whose main objective has been to anticipate one of the great challenges of nature conservation in Portugal: the potential return of the brown bear to the north of the country and its coexistence with people. The event has been organized by the environmental NGO Palombar – Conservation of nature and rural heritage, together with the Association for the Study and Protection of the Donkey (AEPGA), the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), the Municipality of Bragança (MB) and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), and with the support of the European Commission “Natura 2000 biogeographic process” initiative.

The ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project team has participated in the event, presenting the project’s objectives and approaches as an example to improve the bear’s habitat, contribute to its adaptation to climate change scenarios and promote coexistence with people in bear areas. In addition, Fernando Ballesteros, LIFE project coordinator, has given the presentation «Habitat management, conservation of dispersal corridors and improvement of connectivity conditions – A perspective from coexistence», collecting experiences acquired and lessons learned in the development of LIFE projects for the conservation of the Cantabrian brown bear and the expansion of its area of distribution.

The meeting has served as the first contact to advance in the conservation of the species and in the preparation of its future arrival in the north of Portugal, and joint lines of work have been proposed with the Portuguese organizations to transfer knowledge and experiences that are acquired in the ‘LIFE Bears with a Future’ project.

LIFE project coordinator, Fernando Ballesteros, during the networking event

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.

Between September 24 and 26, the fourth edition of the Castilla y León International Ecotourism Fair, NATURCYL, was held in the town of Ruesga, in the Montaña Palentina. The Brown Bear Foundation (FOP) has participated in the fair offering information to visitors about the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project. At the FOP stand, visitors have been able to learn about the actions aimed at improving the availability of food for bears through the planting of native wild fruit trees and the forest treatment of oak and chestnut groves, with the aim of helping the adaptability of the brown bear to climate change in the Cantabrian Mountains.

The Fair, which has had 85 exhibitors from all over the national territory, has been visited by 10,500 people, attracted by the exhibitions and activities related to the enjoyment of nature and the outdoors, in a wide spectrum of possibilities, such as rural tourism, wildlife observation, nature photography, hiking, mountains, astrotourism, routes, rural life, etc.

The ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation and has as beneficiaries associated the Biodiversity Foundation (Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) and the Natural Heritage Foundation (Junta de Castilla y León). The regional administrations of the Junta de Castilla y León and the Principality of Asturias collaborate in the project, and Fundación Tierra Pura and the Principality of Asturias also contributes to the co-financing.

Visitors to Naturcyl Fair listen to explanations about the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ 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 Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) is a deciduous shrub or tree that produces fleshy fruits that are highly valued by the brown bear and other frugivorous species. It generally appears in riparian forests, fresh hedges, birch forests, borders and oak forest clearings and rocky areas on neutral or acidic soils. It has a great capacity for regeneration, very fast growth and good productivity, making it a very interesting species in the enrichment small forest plantation model proposed in the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project.

In September 2021, the LIFE project field team held several days to collect fruits of this species in areas of the municipality of Cabrillanes (León) and the councils of Ibias and Degaña (Asturias), avoiding access to the most visited by bears at the same time. A total of 11 kg of fruit has been collected. Although it is not a species regulated by Royal Decree 289/2003 on the commercialization of forest reproductive materials, suitable stands have been selected within the project’s area of action and the fruits have been adequately labeled and transferred to the Central Forest Nursery of the Junta de Castilla y León, where the seeds will be cleaned and prepared for plant production.

This autumn there has been a very low and irregularly distributed production of Common Whitebeam fruit (Sorbus aria), another species of interest in the project. The different official seed sources established for this species have been evaluated, detecting a great shortage of fruit. Years with low production also tend to give rise to seeds with low viability and low germination rates, which is why it has finally been decided not to collect Common Whitebeam fruits and wait for a year with high fruit production.

Field technician of the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project collecting Alder Buckthorn seeds (Frangula alnus)

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.

Since the beginning of the project ‘LIFE Bears with Future’, but especially since spring 2021, the project’s field team has been collecting data on the species of trees and shrubs that produce fleshy fruits of most interest for the brown bear. The objective has been to collect enough field information to carry out a climate change vulnerability analysis of the native tree species that produce fruits of high bear interest. The area of distribution of the Cantabrian brown bear has been surveyed through field trips in which plants of the different species have been located and georeferenced, separated at least 200 m from each other to allow data independence and representativeness, collecting information on their location, the presence of other nearby plants and the use by the brown bear. The areas most visited by bears have been especially surveyed according to the previous experience of the Brown Bear Foundation field patrols. In total, more than 1,500 locations of plants have been collected (725 Prunus avium, 352 Sorbus aria, 172 Rhamnus alpina, 146 Arbutus unedo, 114 Frangula alnus), most of them visited by the bears.

With these data, models of the potential distribution of the species are being carried out to establish relationships between different environmental and climatic variables and the available presence data. The work is being carried out by the team of Professor Ángel Felicísimo, from the University of Extremadura, with whom a technical assistance contract has been established. The models will be applied to the current and future scenarios, using the climate change cartography developed by the Kraken Group of the University of Extremadura for, at least, the A2 and B2 scenarios of the CGCM2 global model. The results will show the ideal areas for the implantation of each species under climate change scenarios, establishing the areas of greater suitability or opportunity that can be generated, where climate change may even favour its presence and/or fruiting.

Alder Buckthorn georeferenced

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.

After several meetings and preparatory work, on June 15, 2021 a working meeting was held at La Mata Forest Nursery (Grado, Asturias) for the organization and preparation of the chestnut plant production campaign for the project ‘LIFE Bears with Future’. David Villar, General Director of Natural Environment and Rural Planning of the Principado de Asturias, Eloy Ron, of the Society of Services of the Principado de Asturias and technical manager of the forest nursery, Pedro Álvarez, professor at the University of Oviedo, Fernando Ballesteros, project coordinator and member of the Brown Bear Foundation and Belén Garzón, Tragsatec technician, participated in the meeting.

The project ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ will plant 25,000 chestnut trees, of which about 20,000 will be chestnut trees grafted with local varieties from each area and the rest wild chestnut trees without grafting. As a very relevant contribution to the project, the Principado deAsturias government will produce 15,000 chestnut trees grafted with local varieties in La Mata Forest Nursery, without cost associated with the project.

The working meeting has allowed to establish the bases and define needs and roles in the production of chestnut trees, which will begin with the collection of seeds in official authorized Seed Sources in autumn 2021 by the technical team of the forest nursery. The LIFE project will provide technical support for grafting work, which can be done in the nursery and/or in the field once the planting is done, with the most appropriate techniques in each case. The project will also inventory and locate old chestnut trees grafted with different local varieties of interest, which can provide suitable plant material for grafting, considering aspects such as resistance to diseases, vulnerability to climate change or productivity and phenology of fruiting.

From left to right: Pedro Álvarez (University of Oviedo), David Villar, (General Director of Natural Resources and Rural Planning of the Principado de Asturias) and Fernando Ballesteros (Brown Bear Foundation), reviewing characteristics of seedling production in the Forest Nursery La Mata (Grado, Asturias).

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.

One of the main species to be planted in the trophic enrichment forests foreseen in the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project is the cherry tree (Prunus avium). To begin with the production of locally sourced seedlings, in this month of June 2021, the project field team has collected 100 kg of cherry fruits in the north of León. The cherry tree is a regulated species, so it can only be planted from seeds collected in forest stands declared as an official seed source and all the seed collected in the different areas must be certified by the Castilla y León forest administration, to guarantee the suitability of the origin of the seeds and the traceability of the plant production process.

The cherry fruits have been collected in trees from the Seed Source FS/95/02/24/001, in the municipality of Cubillos del Sil (León), under the supervision of the environmental agents of the Junta de Castilla y León. 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 amount collected will allow to obtain 50,000-60,000 seeds. We are evaluating the availability of fruit in other seed sources of the project area for future collections, and at the end of summer or during autumn we will proceed to the collection of other seeds of interest such as Alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus), Whitebeam (Sorbus aria), Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and other species.

 On July 21, the cherry seed collection was completed with another 40 kg collected by the LIFE project team at the Seed Source FS-95/04/24/023 in Villablino (León).

Field team of the ‘LIFE Bears with Future’ project collecting cherries for plant production.

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 “Bears with Future” LIFE Project, with the objective of facilitating the adaptation of the brown bear to climate change, was presented to the media on 11th March. The project’s actions, co-financed by the European LIFE program, will be undertaken in 8 protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network. These are the reserves of Peña Ubiña, Caldoveiro, Montovo-La Mesa, Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias and Somiedo in Asturias and the Alto Sil and Sierra de los Ancares in León for the western Cantabrian brown bear subpopulation, and in the Montaña Palentina reserve in Palencia for the eastern subpopulation.

Science has shown us that climate change will particularly affect the brown bear during its hibernation period, which will tend to shorten given the increasing temperatures, but that it will also impact on the production of wild fruits on which the bear feeds, some of which, such as the bilberry, have already shown irregular fruiting success over the past few years. Additionally, greater mobility of the bears in winter may increase interactions with hunting activities and with other outdoor recreational and sporting activities which are undergoing an important surge in mountain areas.

Planting, restoration and research

The Project plans to plant, in various phases, 150,000 fleshy fruit producing native trees and shrubs in 225 copses, occupying a total surface area of 155 hectares. A further 25,000 sweet chestnuts, grafted with native varieties, will be added in 75 groves covering 55 hectares and, as for the former, strategically located in areas selected considering the predicted climate change impact. Researchers from the universities of Oviedo, Valladolid, Cantabria and Extremadura will be participating in these and other project actions undertaken. The restoration of abandoned sweet chestnut groves is also contemplated, using treatments to improve both their fruiting yield and resilience to climate change.

In addition to the planting program, a study of the vulnerability of the most sensitive areas for brown bear conservation to climate change will also be carried out, which will be evaluated by two work groups of the regional administrations implicated for its future application.

The project’s actions will also present an opportunity to promote rural development and the creation of jobs linked to wildlife conservation actions and adaptation in the context of climate change, with strong potential for being copied across the entire area with Cantabrian brown bear presence and also other areas facing similar challenges.

Information and awareness campaign

The other main line of actions is directed towards those groups that undertake activities in the mountains in the Cantabrian bear territory in winter, fundamentally those related to hunting and mountain sports. An intensive campaign will be carried out with over 100 hunting and winter sports associations to explain the new scenarios arising from climate change and to raise awareness of the implications of this on bear activity. The campaign will be accompanied by audiovisual materials, explanatory leaflets and other information and awareness raising materials which will also be distributed among the tourism establishments across the bear areas.

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.