During the month of May, we had the pleasure of accompanying an institutional delegation from the Government of Andorra, led by the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Guillem Casal; the Director of the Department of Environment and Sustainability, Sílvia Ferrer; the Director of the Cos de Banders (Andorra’s environmental ranger corps), Ferran Teixidó; and the Wildlife Unit specialists Jordi Solà, Héctor del Val, and Josep Maria Sánchez.
The purpose of the visit, as Minister Guillem Casal himself explained, was to prepare for the stable return of the brown bear in Andorra, acknowledging that its conservation requires active planning and ensuring incident‑free coexistence between human activities and the presence of the bear. In this regard, Somiedo was seen as a particularly relevant example, both for the management of its territory and for the similarities it shares with Andorra.
Throughout the visit, experiences and insights were exchanged with David Villar and Marcos Da Rocha (General Directors of Land Stewardship and Agricultural Planning of the Principality of Asturias, respectively), Belarmino Fernández (Mayor of Somiedo), Luis Fernando Alonso (Director of the Somiedo Natural Park), and—within the framework of the LIFE Human Bear COEX project—with Guillermo Palomero (President of the Brown Bear Foundation), as well as representatives from other key bear areas such as Mario Rivas (Mayor of Villablino, Castilla y León).
A few days earlier, we accompanied a team from the Cos de Banders, who exchanged information and experiences on bears and capercaillies with environmental technicians and agents from the Principality of Asturias and the Regional Government of Castilla y León, as well as with teams from the Brown Bear Foundation. These meetings are always highly valuable, helping to expand the knowledge of all participants, encouraging discussion on shared challenges and solutions, and strengthening cooperation among territories that face common biodiversity conservation issues.