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 of the brown bear and to disseminate this message through their families. The campaign has been carried out in schools in the project’s municipalities and in centers of the most important villages in the surroundings, which are attended by many students from the area. A total of 23 environmental education activities were carried out, in which 836 students participated, consisting of seven lectures-debates held at the Secondary Education Centers of La Robla, Boñar and Pola de Gordón, five interpretative routes along the corridor for students of the Primary and Secondary Schools of La Pola de Gordón, Ciñera, Villamanín, Huergas de Babia, La Vecilla, La Robla, La Magdalena and Boñar, and eleven storytelling activities for children and primary students of this schools and those of Matallana and Riello. As work material for the field routes, a didactic workbook has been edited, based on the material used in other educational campaigns of the FOP.

December 2016

Interpretive route with school children in the cantabrian brown bear interpopulation corridor .

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 zones in the proximity of some selected passages. This highway crosses the interpopulation corridor between the two subpopulations of Cantabrian brown bear, contributing to the fragmentation. There are not specific fauna passages or other measures to reduce the barrier effect. However, there are some tunnels, small viaducts and underpasses that can allow the crossing of a bear. In order to facilitate the use of these passages by bears and other large mammals, increasing the vegetation cover in the proximity, we have planted in this project action 32 permeabilization forests constituted by 21,585 trees and shrubs, mainly birch and 3,232 shrubs and with a total restored area of 17 ha.
 
The plantations have been carried out on public land with an authorization from the Spanish Ministry of Fomento, as well as on land owned by municipalities with an Land Stewardship Agreement signed with the corresponding local councils. Willow stakes have been planted in the Public Hydraulic Land, with the specific permission of the Duero Hydrographic Confederation. Plantations works have been developed by forestry companies hiring unemployed people from the area and have been coordinated and supervised by the technical staff and field staff of the project, also responsible for the selection of areas, definition of actions, transportation and plant preparation, coordination with authorities and social actors of the territory and monitoring of plantations.

November 2016

Cover plantations in the surroundings of selected passages in the highway AP66.

On 14, 15 and 16 October, the Participatory Meetings of the LIFE Bear Defragmentation project were held in La Pola de Gordón , with the collaboration of the host city council. These meetings had the purpose of showing the results of the actions developed, evaluating them and discussing with different stakeholders and the local public about the importance and the keys of the coexistence between bears and humans in the territory of the Cantabrian interpoblacional corridor. Thematic meetings have been held with local stakeholders, hunters, farmers and beekeepers, in which a total of 78 people participated, to share and resolve doubts and concerns about coexistence with bears. In addition to these meetings, about 150 schoolchildren from the municipalities involved in the project have participated in the various educational activities that have been carried out, as workshops, exhibitions, storytelling and games. These activities have helped children to learn more about the species and its habitat. To conclude the event, a field visit was carried out in Cármenes , to see the areas planted in the project, in which 61 neighbors participated. All the activities have been developed with the collaboration of different associations of the zone: Mountain Club Hiking Road, Club Deportivo Collalampa, Environmental Association Lacerta, Cultural Association La Mediana, Cultural Association Los Duendes de Tolibia.

October 2016

Children participating in one of the educational activities of the Participatory Meetings

La Fundación Oso Pardo 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 educativos correspondientes. Varios estudiantes han desarrollado sus prácticas laborales en el marco del proyecto LIFE Desfragmentación Oso, acompañando al equipo de campo y ayudando en el desempeño de diferentes labores como búsquedas de indicios de presencia de oso o seguimiento y control de las plantaciones realizadas en el proyecto. En 2014 realizó sus prácticas Lorena, estudiante de Ingeniería Forestal, y en 2015 Bárbara, estudiante de Biología, ambas procedentes de la Universidad de León. En 2016 nos acompañaron Enma y Miguel, estudiantes del Ciclo Formativo de Técnico en Trabajos Forestales y de Conservación del Medio Natural del Centro Gredos San Diego de Buitrago y María y Oscar, estudiantes del Grado en Ingeniería Forestal y del Medio Natural de la Universidad de Oviedo. Muchas gracias a todos por el esfuerzo y entusiasmo.

Agosto 2016

Intern students checking plantations of the LIFE project.