Advancing from conflict towards an effective co-existence, which benefits both people and biodiversity, is one of the major challenges for nature conservation around the world. It is a challenge that spans endangered as well as more common species, the larger as well as the smaller fauna. With the aim of sharing ideas and solutions to advance in this field, the LIFE Iberconejo and LIFE Human Bear COEX projects organised a webinar on 27 May, which was attended by more than fifty people.

‘Bears in village environments: can we anticipate potential conflict?’ was the title of the talk by María Párraga, project coordinator of the Brown Bear Foundation (FOP), in which she analysed the recovery of the brown bear and the changes in the rural areas of the Cantabrian Mountains that are behind this phenomenon, and how FOP is working with local councils to ensure coexistence.

Alberto Navarro, LIFE Human Bear COEX project technician, explained the details of the Protocol for intervention with bears in the Cantabrian Mountains, approved in 2019 by the State Commission for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, and the different situations that can lead the competent administrations to act.

The recording of the seminar is available here (in spanish):