This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
A good knowledge is essential to develop effective conservation strategies. The Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP, Brown Bear Foundation) technicians and scientists design and carry out habitat characterisation and population monitoring projects, with special attention to females with cubs. They also carry out genetic studies and analyse the behaviour of females with cubs.
The FOP considers key to delve into the multiple human dimensions related to the bear, and how different social, psychological, economic and political factors can influence perceptions, fears, attitudes and tolerance towards the bear. The conflicts between humans and bears are analysed and solutions for a peaceful coexistence are proposed.
The species that preferentially live in mountain habitats are among the most vulnerable to the possible effects of climate change. For this reason, the FOP collaborates in the research and monitoring of indicators of the effects of climate change on biodiversity in the mountains inhabited by the bear.
The Brown Bear Foundation (FOP) develops research projects within the framework of the Strategy for the Conservation of the Brown Bear in the Cantabrian Mountains (approved in 1999 and updated in 2019), one of whose action points is to conduct applied research for the conservation of the species. These projects are carried out with funding from various entities, primarily the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO). Through its grants, aimed at third sector entities and other state-level non-governmental organisations, it helps with the development of activities of general interest, which are also considered to be of social interest, in the field of scientific and technical research, and environmental protection on matters of state competence.
Project funded in 2023: Scientific and technical research activities on brown bears in a scenario of climate change, coexistence and state competences.
It includes three objectives:
A) Analysis and proposals on the implementation of international agreements signed by Spain, which are in the interest of conserving the brown bear as a priority apex species.
B) Research activities and knowledge improvement to advance the coexistence of the bear with human activities, adaptation to climate change, and safe connectivity between bear population centres and expansion areas.
C) Analysis of the suitability of the Public Hydraulic Domain as habitats of interest and connectivity elements for the brown bear.
ABSTRACTS 2023: download the report
Project funded in 2024: Scientific and technical research activities to advance towards a Favorable Conservation Status of the brown bear and the conservation of its essential habitats in the context of climate change, international frameworks, and state-level jurisdiction.
It includes five objectives:
A) Analyze the concept of environmental information and the mechanisms of participation in the conservation of the brown bear, and establish recommendations for better management of access rights and citizen participation.
B) Expand knowledge about habituated or potentially conflictive bears in a European context to advance towards a Favorable Conservation Status of the species and in the coexistence with people and their activities.
C) Evaluate the variability in the availability of nuts for the bear in the Pyrenees during hyperphagia and under different climate scenarios.
D) Contribute to a strategic and preventive management of forest fires in climate change scenarios in the Cantabrian Mountains.
E) Assess the effectiveness of implementing an Integrated Watershed Management Program in the sub-basins of bear areas as a solution to improve the conservation of the Hydraulic Public Domain (HPD).
ABSTRACS 2024: download the report
Project funded in 2025: Scientific and technical research activities to advance towards a Favourable Conservation Status for the brown bear by assessing the influence of poaching and communication approaches on the species’ recovery, and by improving information on plant species of dietary importance to the brown bear under climate change scenarios, in matters of international and national competence
It includes seven objectives:
A) To gain an understanding of the functioning and current status of biodiversity credits in theinternational context, assess their potential as a financial instrument for conservation, and developproposals for their incorporation into the Spanish legal framework.
B) To contribute to anti-poaching sentinel networks through the capture and tagging of brownbears, remove illegal trapping devices from bear habitats, and update the database on the causesof mortality of the Cantabrian brown bear
C) To review the state of the art in the application of artificial intelligence to biodiversityconservation and the facilitation of human–brown bear coexistence
D) To analyse media coverage of the brown bear and its influence on rural communities’perceptions of the species
E) To assess the impact of climate change on the phenology and productivity of key nut-producing species that are essential components of the brown bear’s diet in the CantabrianMountains
F) To determine the degree of selectivity shown by brown bears towards different cultivatedapple varieties in the Cantabrian Mountains.
G) To use Biosphere Reserves as living laboratories to improve integrated water managementand develop solutions.
ABSTRACS 2025: download the report
With the support of:
The research presented here has been funded by the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO). The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry.
Last updated: 30 June 2026