Local communities in the central Apennines have cohabited for millennia with an extremely valuable and unique Marsican brown bear population.

Previous studies had already highlighted how residents of the Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park (PNALM), the historical stronghold of this unique bear population, show a very positive attitude toward the plantigrade and a tolerance toward it that is unparalleled in Italy or elsewhere in Europe.

New research carried out by Sapienza University of Rome in collaboration with the Spanish Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados and the Abruzzo-Lazio and Molise National Park (PNALM) and published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, has analysed the elements that allow for a functional coexistence between humans and bears, to meet the needs of both parties in a sustainable way.

The Marsican brown bear suffers from very little genetic variability and is at high risk of extinction. For this reason, it is essential to minimise any sources of human impact, starting with accidental and illegal mortality levels, which are incompatible with such a small bear population.

On the other hand, there are the interests of the main social actors such as forest rangers, park rangers, farmers and hunters, and other categories living in the area.

According to Jenny Anne Glikman, a researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados and first author of the study, "The divergence of opinions on this issue increases according to how the costs and benefits of coexistence with bears are distributed among social groups, even though they all support the cause of bear conservation".

The authors suggest that this is where future management attention should be focused.

Although the Park has a long history of conservation work with the Marsican brown bear," says Daniela D'Amico, head of PNALM's Promotion and Communication Office and co-author of the study, "we were particularly interested in understanding how to further improve the conditions for human-bear coexistence in the face of the social and economic changes that are taking place, taking into account the different points of view of the people who share the territory with the bear on a daily basis.

Among the practical implications of the study, the authors emphasise the need for closer forms of collaboration, planning and shared management with different stakeholders to promote greater involvement and a sense of social responsibility.

"Thanks to the very long period of coexistence, high tolerance and positive attitude towards bears, the time is ripe to promote a sense of collective responsibility towards the species, which can no longer be seen as an exclusively institutional prerogative and a constraint for local communities," stresses Paolo Ciucci of Sapienza University, coordinator of the study. "The whole community, through its representatives, must be able to participate in the management and share the pride and satisfaction of successfully conserving a species that is considered locally valuable. It is only through shared social responsibility that individual behaviour that endangers the safety of bears (excessive speed on roads, incompatible zootechnical practices, illegal use of poison) will be considered morally unacceptable., illegal use of poison) will be considered morally unacceptable".

References:

Sharing land with bears: Insights toward effective coexistence - Jenny A. Glikman, Beatrice Frank, Daniela D'Amico, Luigi Boitani e, Paolo Ciucci - Journal for Nature Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126421

Further Information

Paolo Ciucci
Charles Darwin Department of Biology and Biotechnology
paolo.ciucci@uniroma1.it