Action Plan for the Conservation of the Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos) in Europe
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Action Plan for the conservation of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) in Europe by Jon E. Swenson, Norbert Gerstl, Bjørn Dahle, Andreas Zedrosser Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) Nature and environment, No. 114 © Council of Europe Publishing, 2000 Authors Contributors / Acknowledgements Jon SWENSON We are grateful to the many people who have Norwegian Institute of Nature Research assisted us in the preparation of this Action Plan by Tungasletta, 2 providing information on the brown bear, its N-7485 ÅS management, and required actions for their country (current address: Dept of Nature Conservation, and/or providing comments to the text. Agricultural University of Norway Box 5014 We would like to thank Miha Adamic, N-1432 ÅS Linas Balciauskas, Anders Bjärvall, Juan Carlos Blanco, Giorgio Boscagli, Norbert GERSTL Jorund T. Braa, Urs Breitenmoser, Andreas ZEDROSSER Anthony Clevenger, Volodymyr Domashlinets, WWF-Austria Eugenio Dupre, Eladio Fernandez Galiano, Ottokringerstrasse 114-116 Slavomir Findo, Kiril Georgiev, Dexter Hodder, A-1160 VIENNA Djuro Huber, Ovidiu Ionescu, Martin Kassa, Ilpo Koyola, Thomas Komberec, Petr Koubek, Bjørn DAHLE Arild Landa, Clifford Martinka, Yorgos Mertzanis, Department of Zoology Branko Micevski, Ion Micu, Francois Moutou, Norwegian University of Science Javier Naves, Henryk Okarma, Milan Paunovic, And Technology Valdis Pilats, Stavri Pllaha, Mario Possilico, N-7491 TRONDHEIM William Pratesi-Urquhart, Pierre Yves Quenette, Jiit Randveer, Georg Rauer, Harry V. Reynolds, Funding Olivier Robinet, Finn Sandegren, Chris Servheen, Vadim Sidorovich, Pritpal S. Soorae, This Action Plan was funded by WWF- Ole Jakob Sørensen, Magnus Sylvén, International, with a grant from WWF- Vladimir Titar, Paavo Tunkkari, Ben Tuson, Netherlands, to the Norwegian Institute for Eularico Fernandez Valero and Metodija Velevski. Nature Research (NINA). The project was administered by Jon Swenson, NINA (on time NB. : The addresses of those who recommended provided by NINA), and he and Norbert Gerstl, required actions for their countries are found in WWF-Austria, were project leaders. Most of the section 7 of this Action Plan. hard work was done by Bjørn Dahle, NINA, who worked on the biology section, and Andreas Zedrosser, WWF-Austria, who worked on the management section. Contents Mission statement........................................................................................................................ 7 Species action plans..................................................................................................................... 9 Endorsement by IUCN – Bear Specialist Group......................................................................... 12 Endorsement by IBA ................................................................................................................... 13 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 14 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 15 2. Background information ...................................................................................................... 16 2.1. Description of the species .................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Distribution and population numbers in Europe .................................................................. 16 2.3. Life history ........................................................................................................................... 20 2.4. Brown bears and humans...................................................................................................... 23 2.5. Threats, limiting factors, and obstacles to conservation ...................................................... 24 2.6. Conservation status and recent conservation measures........................................................ 29 3. Goals and objectives.............................................................................................................. 31 3.1. Goal ...................................................................................................................................... 31 4. Actions required to meet the goal and objectives on a European level............................ 32 4.1. Species conservation ............................................................................................................ 32 4.2. Recovery of acutely endangered populations....................................................................... 33 4.3. Habitat protection................................................................................................................. 34 4.4. Conflicts with humans.......................................................................................................... 35 4.5. Problem bears ....................................................................................................................... 36 4.6. Public involvement in brown bear management .................................................................. 36 4.7. Public awareness, education and information...................................................................... 37 4.8. Research and monitoring...................................................................................................... 38 5. Required actions by country ................................................................................................ 40 6. References .............................................................................................................................. 56 7. List of contributors................................................................................................................ 61 8. Tables...................................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 1. Historic distribution of the brown bear in Europe and adjacent areas......................... 68 Figure 2. Present distribution of the brown bear in Europe and adjacent areas.......................... 69 The process behind the elaboration of the action plans Each Action Plan was first elaborated by the author in early 1998. These first drafts included input and comments from many experts throughout Europe. In October 1998, governmental experts then discussed the Plans at a meeting organised by the Council of Europe in Slovakia, after which the authors incorporated the comments received. The Plans were then reviewed by the Bern Convention Contracting Parties in December 1998 and again by the European Commission and EU governmental experts at a meeting of the Habitats Directive Scientific Committee in September 1999. All the comments received (and forwarded to the authors by the Commission via the Bern Convention Secretariat) were included in the final draft version presented at the Bern Convention Meeting of The Contracting Parties in December 1999. At this meeting, some governments advised that they still wished to comment on National Actions related to their respective countries and they were given until end February 2000 to send their comments to the Council of Europe. The authors have made every effort to incorporate all the comments received into the final Action Plans and apologise unreservedly should any have slipped through the net. It is clear from the above that these Plans have been through an exhaustive, collaborative process and received a wide consensus, culminating in Recommendation No. 74 (Dec 1999) of the Bern Convention Contracting Parties, December 1999. Where differing figures have been given by various national experts (in particular as regards population numbers), every effort has been made to include both (or all) totals. Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the WWF, the Council of Europe or the LCIE and its affiliated organisations. None of the organisations mentioned above, nor any person acting on their behalf, is responsible for the use which may be made of this document. The designation of geographical entities in the publication and the presentation of material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the LCIE, WWF or the Council of Europe, or their supporting organisations concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. May 2000 Mission statement The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE) “To maintain and restore, in coexistence with people, viable populations of large carnivores as an integral part of ecosystems and landscapes across Europe” Background • Europe, once a broad mosaic of natural habitats ideal for large carnivores, is now left with only scattered tracts of suitable “wildland”. Brown bear, wolf, wolverine, Eurasian lynx and Iberian lynx still occur in Europe but they are forced to live in highly fragmented and human-dominated landscapes. • There was widespread and bitter opposition to large carnivores in the past but today there is increasing public interest in their conservation. However, the predatory behaviour of large carnivores often conflicts with local economic activity, especially livestock farming. • Their current distribution is often confined to border areas, which therefore