A new study has confirmed that Marsican brown bears play a valuable role promoting the Central Apennines as nature-based tourism destination.

Located in the buffer zone of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the water tank, which has claimed the lives of five critically endangered bears in two separate incidents, has now been partially filled in. Work continues to identify other potentially dangerous tanks and wells.

The new German study is good news for bear conservation in Europe, but has implications for rewilding and the mitigation of human-wildlife conflict.

Swedish Lapland’s rich natural resources can form the basis for a vibrant and sustainable local economy.

A young male Apennine brown bear was found shot dead in mid-September, just outside the village of Pettorano sul Gizio. After a few days of investigation, the culprit was found and he confessed that he had deliberately shot the bear as it kept on visiting his chicken pen. This sad story can surely teach us a lesson…

According to the Belgian TV-show “Dieren in nesten”, The European bison, the wolf, the brown bear, the wolverine, and the lynx are the “The Big 5 of Europe” – the continent’s five most impressive wild mammals. All these five are – and especially so the European bison which ranked as number 1 – among the symbolical species for Rewilding Europe and emblematic for the wildlife comeback in Europe.

On January 9, the newly established Italian NGO “Rewilding Apennines” signed a contract with Rewilding Europe, about a 3-year workplan, developed by the two organisations together during the last months of 2013. This after the official announcement the past October during WILD 10, the World Wilderness Congress in Salamanca, Spain, that the Central Apennines have been selected as the sixth area within the Rewilding Europe initiative.

With official start in January 2012, the Velebit rewilding area is now up and running, seeking opportunities to significantly enhance the local chamois population. All three parks in the area – Northern Velebit National Park, Paklenica National Park, and Velebit Nature Park – see this as a priority. Suitable source populations for restocking exist in various parts of the Balkans (e.g. Montenegro, Serbia, and Bulgaria).