The LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project gets underway to meet the communities and ask: “Is it possible to live in an area where bears also live? And how?”
The first public event of the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project will be held on 29 June at 17:30 in Pettorano sul Gizio, at the Cantelmo Castle, and the participation is open to all.
The EU co-funded LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project has the ambitious goal of growing the culture of human-bear coexistence in the Central Apennines to encourage the expansion of the endangered population of Marsican brown bear, through the replication of the Bear Smart Community model – tested with great results in Pettorano sul Gizio since 2015 with the Bear Smart Community Genzana – in at least 16 municipalities, both in protected areas and in the ecological corridors that connect them, as well as in two areas of Northern Greece.
Promoting peaceful coexistence between humans and bears is a social and cultural process in which no one is excluded. Knowledge, the exchange of experiences and the implementation of best practices are the best tools for making the Central Apennines a vast area in which local communities and bears enjoy truly unique benefits.
The event will be attended by technicians and experts who will provide updates on the diffusion and behavior of the Marsican brown bear as a starting point for establishing a discussion with those who live and work in the area, so that they can give their opinion and contribution on how to achieve together this ambitious goal which is coexistence.
The initiative is promoted by the local partners of the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project: Municipality of Pettorano sul Gizio, Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Regional Nature Reserve, Salviamo l’Orso and Rewilding Apennines. At the end of the event there will be a convivial moment.