In 2026, Italy’s Central Apennines will become the focal point of international bear conservation, focusing on the Marsican brown bear and coexistence between people and wildlife. From September 20 to 25, Pescasseroli will host two significant gatherings: the International Conference of the IBA – International Association for Bear Research and Management – and the final conference of the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors initiative.
Salviamo l’Orso and Rewilding Apennines urgently call on the relevant authorities and municipalities to secure the hazardous situations identified and described in the reports sent to them in recent days.
In recent months, through a participatory approach, some Committees for the Bear-Smart Communities within the ecological corridors of the Central Apennines have become operational. This is an important step towards planning concrete, long-term actions for coexistence between humans and bears.
“You cannot bluff if there is a theatrical civilization, and theater is a great civil force; theater removes the cowardice of living, it takes away the fear of the different, the other, the unknown, of life, of death.“ Leo De Berardinis, actor and theater director Theater is a powerful tool for communication, as … Continued
Since late May, the Italian partners of LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors have been implementing a new initiative to engage local communities, to support the development of Bear-Smart Communities in the Central Apennines.
In Pettorano sul Gizio, the Bear Smart Community Genzana will be able to boast of having a unique, original place that is able to connect natural and human history in a permanent exhibition that will surprise everyone!
Everything is ready in Gioia dei Marsi for the three days dedicated to the protection of biodiversity, the restoration of ecosystems, the socio-economic benefits of living in healthy nature and the practices of human-wildlife coexistence.
Rewilding Apennines joins the numerous associations that have organized a demonstration in memory of the Amarena the bear, to ask the authorities and law enforcement agencies for greater control of the territory and commitment to the protection of fauna and for citizens to actively participate in putting into practice a real coexistence. The initiative will be held on Sunday 10 September at 10:00 in Piazza Mazzarino in Pescina (AQ).
The aim of the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors initiative is to enhance human-bear coexistence in Italy, Greece, and further afield. The initiative’s well-attended first two public meetings, in the towns of Pettorano sul Gizio and Vastogirardi in the Central Apennines rewilding landscape, proved very positive and educational events.
A high participation of people characterized the first public event of the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors in the Bear Smart Community Genzana, the first to be established in Italy 8 years ago.