The Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) worked long-term with local stakeholders to reduce human-bear conflicts in the Cantabrian Mountains, signing agreements with 4,500 hunters and set up bear monitoring and measures to reduce damage. The main aim of the Fundación Oso Pardo, which has existed since 1992, is demonstrating the feasibility of coexistence of human activities and a wild population of bears in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain.
To support acceptance of bear population and increase awareness, the foundation works with key stakeholders, mainly hunters.
The submitted project focused on this type of work, and more specifically on agreements with 11 hunting associations (active on 280,000 ha of bear territory inside and near the Natura 2000 network) on banning snares, protection of livestock and beehives, as well as extensive communications activities.
The broad coverage and strong impact of this project was possible only because of the strong social standing, good public relations and long-term presence of the foundation in the project area.
This project won the Natura 2000 Awards in 2015 under the Reconciling Interests/Perceptions category.
Country: Spain
Region: Cantabrian Mountains
Starting date: 2010
Species: Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos)
Species characteristics: Huntable species, Protected species
Type of actions: Management of habitats and wildlife, Research and data collection, Communication, Enforcement
Leading partners: FUNDACIÓN OSO PARDO (http://eng.fundacionosopardo.org/)
