Country/Region: Italy
Partner: Salviamo L’Orso
The Marsican brown bear, also known as the “Apennine brown bear,” is a critically endangered type of Eurasian brown bear found only in the Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park and nearby areas in Italy. Its survival is mainly threatened by humans due to road accidents and conflicts with people. Bears often face direct persecution as a reaction to crop and livestock losses.
The project will continue the efforts of Salviamo L’Orso (SLO) Onlus (NGO “Save The Bear”) to expand the Marsican brown bear’s habitat in Central Italy. A previous grant to the organization, awarded in late 2020, was successfully completed in November 2022. The long-term goal of SLO is to create social and ecological conditions that allow the natural expansion of the bear’s core area, leading to a population increase.
This project aims to improve local communities’ acceptance of bears, reduce human-bear conflicts, and build long-term coexistence. Strategies include providing and maintaining electric fences, reducing food availability in towns (e.g., fewer fruit trees along roads, reducing fruit on trees in towns), and supplying bear-proof garbage bins in towns and tourist areas.
In 2023, a second phase of the project was funded to continue activities in the Roveto Valley (L’Aquila province), Alto Molise (Isernia province), and the border area of Lazio (Rieti province), Umbria (Perugia province), and Marche (Ascoli Piceno province).
