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 in Spain in the General Directorate of Environment in the European Commission. After a work meeting in the FOP offices in Santander with the technical team and LIFE administrative staff, the project coordinator and field team members accompanied her on a visit to some of the plantation areas in the connectivity forests, checking the good condition of the trees and their evolution. They have also visited the surroundings of the highway where the screening plantations are being finalised near some of the existing crossings. During the field visit a meeting was held to exchange ideas with municipality officials and some of the managers from the biosphere reserves in the area, who are collaborating in the development of the LIFE project.
During the visit, and among some of the technical aspects in the advancement of the project, it has been agreed to extend the project until December 2016 to adequately complete the monitoring of the plantations and the presence of bears in corridor.

May 2016