Over 150 people attended the closing event in Pescasseroli of a project that, over the past five years, brought together protected areas, municipalities, associations, businesses, institutions and local communities — both in the Central Apennines and in northern Greece — to lay solid foundations for a future in which humans and bears can coexist peacefully in the long term.
For the first time in Italy, the project has trialled the Bear-Smart Communities model. The results achieved now form the basis for a long-term programme. The meeting coincides with the opening day of the 29th Conference of the International Association for Bear Research & Management
On 7 August, at the headquarters of the Sirente Velino Regional Nature Park in Rocca di Mezzo, Rewilding Apennines presented the study assessing whether the environmental and social conditions now exist to bring the bearded vulture and the cinereous vulture back to the Central Apennines. Almost two years of work, sixteen authors from six European countries, three hundred and fifty pages.
In June, the second edition of KinoAppennino brought more than thirty participants from various countries to Pettorano sul Gizio, who in under a week shot twenty-six films. Some speak of wild nature and of how we live side by side with wildlife, others look at the village and the people who live there, others still went wherever they wanted. On 28 August, everyone gets to see them all.
With the support of the Open Rivers Programme, Rewilding Apennines is opening two new strands of work on the rivers of the central Apennines: mapping the barriers of the Aterno-Pescara basin, and preparing the next removal on the Giovenco, where five barriers were already taken out in 2024.
A European coalition of experts and NGOs, which Rewilding Apennines is part of, is calling for the European Commission to intervene and is preparing a complaint to the Bern Convention.
A study promoted by Rewilding Apennines in the basins of the Pescara and Aterno rivers has confirmed the presence of at least four Eurasian beavers, which reached the central Apennines following unauthorised releases. The organisation is following this presence with scientific and ecological interest, treating it for what it is: a new phenomenon, to be studied methodically.
This year too, Rewilding Apennines renews its commitment to running its international literary competition: a space where writing becomes a tool to tell the story of nature, the restoration of ecosystems and the benefits that rewilding brings to people as well.
From 22 to 27 June, Pettorano sul Gizio will once again transform into a film set for an entire week, hosting the second edition of KinoAppennino, organised by Rewilding Apennines. Film professionals and enthusiasts will come together to produce short films of every genre in record time, giving priority to the strong bond between nature and culture that the village perfectly embodies.
16,826 animals poisoned in Italy in fifteen years, an underground supply chain of banned substances, near-total impunity. The full text of Rewilding Apennines’ address, with a concrete proposal: to extend the logic of Italy’s wildfire law to poisoning.
