From schoolchildren and students to beekeepers and everyday citizens, the Rewilding Velebit team is building engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, amplifying support for their nature recovery efforts.
Capturing hearts and minds
In the Velebit Mountains of Croatia, a 145-kilometre long massif that lies parallel to the country’s Adriatic coast, the Rewilding Velebit team are working to create a large wildlife corridor across the beautiful and biodiverse landscape. Having purchased five hunting concessions – encompassing 30,000 hectares of forest and grassland in the heart of the Velebit Nature Park – they are now overseeing a transition from traditional hunting-based management towards wildlife watching, which is supporting a gradual resurgence in wildlife. Five wildlife watching hides, which became operational late last year, are now attracting growing numbers of visitors.
Developing and nurturing positive attitudes towards nature and nature recovery among stakeholders is essential to the success of these efforts. The Rewilding Velebit team carries out a wide range of outreach activities, inspiring people of all backgrounds to want to protect and enhance the majestic nature of the Velebit Mountains, and to generate additional support for rewilding.
“The Velebit Mountains are incredibly valuable – both for the nature they contain, and for the people that live here and visit. Through rewilding and our ongoing engagement efforts, we’re committed to enhancing that value.”
Kruno Bošnjaković
Rewilding Velebit Communications Officer
Popular premiere
Last year, one of the engagement highlights of the Rewilding Velebit team was the premiere of “A New Path for the Velebit Mountains“, a 15-minute documentary shot by award-winning French filmmaker Emmanuel Rondeau. This enthralling short film was screened for the first time in the local town of Gospić, drawing a large and diverse audience of over 100 people. The documentary has now been viewed online more than 8000 times.
“I was informed and inspired by this beautiful documentary,” says Jasenka Svetić, a resident of Gospić who attended the premiere. “Seeing the power and diversity of nature in Velebit really surprised me. I believe rewilding can help people and wildlife to live alongside each other here, and bring benefits through nature-based tourism.”
Generating buzz
Promoting human-wildlife coexistence in the Velebit Mountains is particularly important as species such as brown bears are present in the landscape. At the end of October, the Rewilding Velebit organised a seminar for seven beekeepers in the village of Jablanac. Apiaries, in particular, can attract bears searching for food, which means protecting hives can help to increase acceptance of bears in the landscape. The team talked with local beekeepers about how to prevent bear damage, and how they can help by repairing existing fencing and installing new electric fences.
“The seminar in Jablanac was useful and interesting,” says Hrvoje Spodnjak, a beekeeper who owns an apiary inside Velebit Nature Park. “I suffered a lot of bear damage to my hives two years ago, and I think an electric fence, which the rewilding team will install soon, will help to prevent this. I believe people and wildlife can coexist in Velebit and the Rewilding Velebit team are doing a great job making this happen.”
The hunting perspective
With hunting still widely practised in Velebit, the Rewilding Velebit team continually engage local hunters in constructive dialogue. They regularly warn people about the health risks of lead ammunition, and offer non-hazardous, lead-free ammunition to hunters as a preferential alternative.
In late 2022, Rewilding Velebit signed an agreement with representatives of six neighbouring hunting concessions, as a first step in establishing good relations and best practice on various issues. Last year, an important milestone in the transition towards wildlife watching across the Velebit landscape was reached when the Rewilding Velebit team helped to set up a wildlife watching hide on a neighbouring concession.
Educational outreach
Connecting children with nature can help to create a generation of eco-conscious individuals who want to take an active role in nature recovery.
The goal of the Rewilding Velebit-designed “When I grow up I want to be a wildlife ranger” workshop is to introduce schoolchildren to the wildlife of Velebit, and inspire them to be active nature guardians. Last year, the Rewilding Velebit team held a series of these workshops in various locations, while they also organised a large carnivore field trip for students at the Karlovac University of Applied Sciences.
Beyond Velebit
The Rewilding Velebit team have also stepped up their efforts to reach people beyond the landscape. The launch of an English-Croatian Rewilding Velebit website has allowed people from Croatia and across the world learn about the team’s work. In the autumn of last year, a photo exhibition in the Croatian capital Zagreb drew a significant audience and helped the team establish new relationships. And a range of Rewilding Velebit branded merchandise – featuring the brown bear, grey wolf, and Eurasian lynx as the three iconic carnivores of the Velebit landscape – has seen rewilding promoted on the streets and in homes right across the country.
Building on their impressive engagement efforts to date, today the Rewilding Velebit team are continuing their efforts to scale up outreach.
“The Velebit Mountains are incredibly valuable – both for the nature they contain, and for the people that live here and visit,” says Rewilding Velebit Communications Officer Kruno Bošnjaković. “Through rewilding and our ongoing engagement efforts, we’re committed to enhancing that value.”
Invaluable support
Rewilding Europe’s work in our rewilding landscapes is supported by a wide range of highly valued partners. We would particularly like to acknowledge those providing core funding – notably the Ecological Restoration Fund, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, WWF-Netherlands, and Arcadia. Their longstanding support plays a critical role in enabling us to deliver and scale up rewilding impact.
Want to know more?
This blog is taken from a longer story entitled “The Velebit Connection”, which featured in the Rewilding Europe Annual Review 2023.
Download a PDF of the story Or check out our Annual Review 2023