Habitat fragmentation is, together with direct anthropogenic mortality, the main cause of decline or extinction of many bear populations. Besides the destruction of good quality habitat, especially large forest, highways, roads and big linear infrastructures are responsible for population fragmentation as they are a real barrier and can create an avoidance area in its surroundings. Although bears can move easily along big distances, usually only young males disperse, while young females tend to stay close to her mothers home range. This situation makes more likely the isolation of reproductive nuclei by linear barriers as big roads or highways, complicating genetic and demographic interchange and the colonization or recovery of reproductive areas and ultimately threatening the population viability and survival.
In the Cantabrian Mountains there are about 200 bears and its numbers are recovering from mid 90’s after the decrease suffered in the second part of the XX century. Cantabrian Brown bears are divided into two subpopulations fairly isolated from a genetic point of view and separated by a 50 km-wide area known as interpopulation corridor, sporadically used by the bear as the evidences show almost every year. This corridor is crossed by a highway and some roads and railways and has suffered a heavy deforestation in the southern part. Even so, the corridor habitat has a good quality and data increasingly indicate the presence of bears in the corridor linking the two subpopulations.
Through the use of genetic analyses it has been shown that some males have moved between subpopulations, and one “western” male was recently found to have bred with an “eastern” female, producing two “mixed” cubs.
In the current situation, with both Cantabrian bear subpopulations increasing its numbers, the main conservation goal is the effective connection between them, strengthen the emerging movement of bears detected in this years. For this reason, actions for the defragmentation and improvement of connectivity as those foreseen in the LIFE project Defragmentation Bear are of priority interest for the future conservation of bears in the Cantabrian Mountains.
More information about current situation of brown bear in the interpopulation corridor and the advisable actions for the improvement of connectivity, can be found in the “Best Practices Handbook for Bear Corridor Management in the Cantabrian Mountains”, published by Brown Bear Foundation in a previous LIFE project and available as pdf here (in Spanish).
Between 2009 and 2011, Brown Bear Foundation developed a previous LIFE project ‘Bear Corridors’ and much of the work of the project was aimed at improving the social climate for bears in the corridor areas. A favourable social environment was created around this project and it contributed to eliminating risks and to raising social awareness about the importance of the presence of the brown bear in the interpopulation corridor. Work on the social aspects is now complemented in the new LIFE project ‘Defragmentation Bear’ with a direct intervention in the habitat in the south part of the corridor, with the aim of contributing to its defragmentation and consolidating favourable habitat passages along this corridor.
The general goal of this project is to ensure the long-term viability of the Cantabrian brown bear population, defragmentating the Cantabrian interpopulation corridor and consolidating the genetic and demographic interchange between the two sub-populations.
The project’s specific goals are the following:
These objectives coincide with what has been established in the Strategy for the Conservation of the Cantabrian Brown Bear in Spain.
Connectivity will be achieved by eliminating gaps, reducing infrastructure-crossing black spots and improving habitats. To achieve that, the project foresees the plantation of 180 small connectivity forests dispersed along the corridor, the improvement of some passages in the main linear infrastructures crossing the corridor, and the restoration of some valuable habitats. All this work includes the plantation of more than 60.000 fruit trees. The preparation and development of the actions will be done by means of agreements with local authorities and landowners, technical projects, scientific monitoring and the participation of volunteers and local workers. Some of the tree planting will be carried out on land acquired by FOP for the project and the rest will take place in farms and land whose owners signed territory guardianship agreements.
Actions for dissemination and public involvement will include activities addressed to local stakeholders and the general public, work with volunteers, a bulletin in a national magazine, periodic newsletters, informative material and a documentary and periodic video-news.
The coordinator beneficiary of the project is the Brown Bear Foundation (Fundación Oso Pardo, in spanish), with the economic support of the Spanish Agriculture, Food and Environment Ministry, Biodiversity Foundation, the Government of Castilla y León and Gas Natural Fenosa; and the collaborators of the Government of Asturias and the municipalities of Los Barrios de Luna, Cármenes, La Pola de Gordón, Sena de Luna, Valdelugueros, Valdepiélago, Vegacervera and Villamanín.
El proyecto LIFE Oso Courel se desarrolla entre julio de 2017 y diciembre de 2020 en el espacio Red Natura Ancares-Courel (ES1120001), en la parte sur del mismo dentro de los concellos de Folgoso do Courel, Quiroga, Samos, Triacastela, As Nogais y Pedrafita do Cebreiro. Algunas acciones informativas y educativas se realizan también en el sector norte del espacio, en la Serra de Ancares.
In the last months of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project, an environmental education program aimed at all students in the municipalities of the project has been developed, to raise awareness about the importance of conservation…
The implication and involvement of the inhabitants of the corridor in the habitat improvement actions have been a very important part of the project. Among other activities, several volunteer days have been held with a…
In November, the permeabilization and improvement in the surroundings of some passages existing in the highway AP-66 have been completed. This action has consisted in the planting of cover native trees and bushes in suitable…
Between 13 and 15 October, the coordinator of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project participated in an international meeting on the conservation of large carnivores and threatened scavenger raptors in Europe, held in Teramo (Italy), at…
On 14, 15 and 16 October, the Participatory Meetings of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project were held in La Pola de Gordón (León), with the collaboration of the host city council. These meetings had the…
The last newsletter of the project has been published, with the main actions developed since spring to the end of the project. September 2016
La Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) acoge habitualmente estudiantes de diversos estudios relacionados con la conservación de la naturaleza y la gestión forestal para el desarrollo de sus prácticas laborales, y previo acuerdos con los centros…
Brown Bear Foundation (Fundación Oso Pardo, FOP) regularly welcomes students from various formation programs related to nature conservation and forest management for the development of their work practices and internships, always with a prior agreement…
Over the summer of 2016 the field team has continued to verify the presence of various brown bear specimens in the interpopulation corridor. In July there was an attack on an apiary in Matallana de…
On 23rd and 24th of May 2016 a follow-up visit has been organised for the European Commission to examine the Bear Defragmentation LIFE project, with the attendance of Dorte Pardo-López, head of the LIFE programme…
On the 9th April volunteer activities got under way again with the planting of connectivity forests for the brown bear in the interpopulation corridor as part of the LIFE project. A group of 58 volunteers…
Over the last few months the dissemination activities of the project have been ongoing to raise awareness of the brown bears’ situation in the Cantabrian interpopulation corridor, the strategy to improve connectivity and also about…
Newsletter 5 of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project has been published. March 2016
From October to March, the second plantation campaign has been carried out in the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project. The work has been undertaken by 14 forest workers and one forestry foreman hired from among the…
Among the activities of the LIFE project is the purchase of disused agricultural lands for restoration. This makes possible the planting of connectivity forests and favours the demonstrative effect, allowing restoration and monitoring actions, voluntary…
In November 2015 a special informative bulletin on the LIFE project has been published. With 24 pages in full colour and printed with the collaboration of the journal Quercus, 18,000 copies have been distributed, inserted…
In October 2015 the second sowing campaign of the LIFE project has got under way. As in the previous campaign, a work team has been sourced from local unemployed people to carry out the planting.…
On Saturday 17th October, volunteers planted a part of the project’s acquired terrains in the Gete valley (Cármenes, León). The 20 volunteers taking part in the planting are employees from Gas Natural FENOSA. The work…
Newsletter 4 of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project has been published.
Over the summer of 2015 LIFE project dissemination activities have continued focussing on the project itself, its goals and outcomes, both inside the Cantabrian brown bear interpopulation corridor, and in the surrounding areas and for…
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