Prevention and mitigation of conflicts in villages and their surroundings to favour coexistence between humans and bears in the higher bear density municipalities of the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain)

Introduction

The Cantabrian brown bear population is experiencing a very hopeful recovery and increase that has allowed for the reconnection of previously isolated nuclei and even the initiation of a spatial expansion. However, it is still endangered and has not achieved a Favourable Conservation Status (FCS).

Human-Bear Conflicts

This increase in the number of bears, together with bear behavioural ecology, the end of human persecution, and the social changes experienced in rural areas in the last decades, are associated with an increase in the negative interactions between bears and humans.

One of the most worrying conflicts could be the presence of bears inside or very close to inhabited human settlements, habituated to human presence, or even conditioned to anthropogenic food sources such as garbage. This situation has recently begun to be detected inside some Cantabrian villages, and each year the number increases, generating social alarm and a risk for the loss of the current favourable perception of the bear among the people living in these mountains.

Project Objectives

This project addresses this emerging problem by preventing and mitigating ongoing and future conflicts between bears and humans in villages and other human settlements. It also aims to reinforce the role of the municipalities in applying best practices to resolve conflicts.

Main Actions

The main actions of the project include:

1. Capacity-building
2. Cleaning of security perimeters in villages
3. Dissuading planting of fruit trees outside villages
4. Protection of attractive elements
5. Testing of innovative methods
6. Monitoring and early warning of conflicts
7. Information and awareness for local inhabitants and stakeholders
8. Dissemination and replication of results and lessons learned in other areas of the Cantabrian Mountains

Collaboration

The project combines the participation of an NGO involved in the territory, the nine city councils of the municipalities with the greatest presence of Cantabrian bears, and the support as associated partners of the two competent regional administrations.