There was a time, far from distant, when the brown bear (
Ursus arctos
) was in the crosshairs of poachers.
It was the nineties and, although it was protected in Spain, clandestine hunting pushed the species to the limit.
There were between 50 and 80 specimens left in two isolated populations in the Cantabrian Mountains.
“She was a condemned animal”, sums up Guillermo Palomero as he climbs with the SUV through the mountains of the “bear country”, as the naturalist calls this area.
Although the president of the Brown Bear Foundation is one of the protagonists of this choral story of success in the conservation of the species, he still finds it hard to believe the social acceptance that this animal now has in León and Asturias.
Also, that the population has been multiplied almost by five in such a short time.
In the Cantabrian Mountains there are currently 370 specimens (210 males and 160 females),
according to the last census released a few days ago.
"But three decades ago the species got out of hand," he recalls from Anllares del Sil, a district of the Leonese municipality of Páramo del Sil.
His work now with the bear —a species that is still classified in Spain as endangered, but no longer in a critical situation— focuses on improving the habitats in which the animal lives and preparing them for the changes that the climate crisis will bring.
But in the nineties, the first works had to be focused on stopping poaching.
Luis Fernández, a native of the mining and Leonese town of Villablino, started working at the foundation 27 years ago precisely for that, to beat the copper with the poachers who were killing the bear.
"Now it is not the animal that I knew," he says of the increase in the number of specimens.
But success can also be a potential source of conflict at this time, as interactions between humans and bears are increasing both in the bush and in some populations.
But those are the potential risks now.
Palomero looks back to those nineties in which slug shotguns and ties were used with total impunity.
He recalls the importance of the complaints, the work of Seprona (the nature protection service of the Civil Guard) and following each of the open files so that the deaths of bears do not go unpunished.
"Poaching fell at the end and is no longer socially accepted," explains Palomero.
Guillermo Palomero, president of the Oso Pardo Foundation.
The second key to the success of the bear's recovery in these three decades was the protection of the habitat in which the animal lived, says the president of the Brown Bear Foundation, an NGO that began working in the area in 1992. Specifically, This naturalist applauds the creation and expansion of the Natura 2000 Network, the European system for the protection of areas with the greatest ecological value in the EU.
And the third secret of success was local involvement.
"It is the most exciting thing, working in the territory to win that support," says Palomero.
"You have to talk a lot," insists the naturalist.
Once the Cantabrian population has increased and stabilized in a security strip, NGOs and Administrations now try to go one step ahead to prevent future risks.
“Now there are more bears and there will be incidents, for sure.
We work to minimize them”, explains Palomero.
For example, the pandemic has caused a greater influx of people in the countryside and this increases the risk of having an encounter with a bear, which is not generally aggressive towards humans, unless it feels threatened.
For this reason, this foundation tries to do pedagogical work to explain how to act when encountering this animal and has signed several agreements with groups of hikers, photographers and other users of the mountain.
Incidents with the human being
What is most worrying are the incursions of the specimens in towns and cities.
"You have to be very careful so that the bears do not get used to it," warns Palomero.
They are opportunistic animals and in the garbage of human beings they can find easy food.
"The danger is that they get used to it," insists the president of the Oso Pardo Foundation.
For this there is already a protocol, which is activated when it is detected that an animal visits a population on more than one occasion.
Basically, what is done is to dissuade them, for example, with firecrackers or with guns that shoot rubber balls, so that they do not get used to entering towns and villages that are in the middle of nature.
Raquel Martínez from Barcelona is precisely specialized in this field, in the interactions between wildlife and humans.
She works thousands of kilometers from León, in the Jasper National Park, in Canada.
Her work also focuses in part on bears, but blacks and
grizzlies.
Its
objective is to avoid interactions between wildlife (which also includes pumas, wolves and various types of deer) and the inhabitants of the only town in the entire park, a colossal protected space with an area similar to the from Asturias.
Martínez also believes that incidents with bears in Spain will increase as the population of the species grows, as is the case in Canada.
"It is an animal that is testing where the limit is, how far it can go."
The solution is to reduce what attracts them: easily accessible food such as garbage, explains this environmentalist who also collaborates for a few weeks a year with the Oso Pardo Foundation.
For this reason, garbage containers have special closures, action has been taken to close landfills and attempts are being made to raise awareness among the population.
Luis Fernández, a member of the Oso Pardo Foundation, during one of the chestnut plantations on a hill in Anllares (León).
But it is not only about preventing animals from finding food in towns and cities;
They also try to find him in the bush at the same time.
That is what the current Life Bears with a Future project is seeking, which is mainly financed by the European Union and of which the Biodiversity Foundation, dependent on the Ministry for Ecological Transition, is also a part.
The project, which is coordinated by the Brown Bear Foundation, aims to anticipate the impacts that climate change will cause on the diet of this species.
Some of the warming scenarios point to a reduction in the availability of blueberries and other fruits.
In addition, the forests dominated by beech and Atlantic oak will suffer a drastic reduction in that area.
But there are species that will not be so affected, such as chestnuts,
This Life project, which will last until 2025 and has financing of 2.5 million euros, includes the planting of 150,000 native trees and shrubs in various phases on some 155 hectares.
In addition, to these will be added some 25,000 native chestnut trees that will be grafted with local varieties in another 55 hectares.
The entire process will contribute to recovering degraded forest areas, adds Víctor Gutiérrez, coordinator of the Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration area of the Biodiversity Foundation.
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