Best Practice Knowledge Base

8.2 Brown bear

Conserving and reintroducing brown bears (Ursus arctos) into European forests is an important strategy in forest restoration and biodiversity conservation. As apex predators and keystone species, brown bears significantly influence ecosystem dynamics by regulating prey populations. Their presence contributes to maintaining the structural and functional integrity of forest habitats. There have been successful reintroduction efforts in Europe, also emphasizing stakeholder engagement and monitoring to ensure the long-term success of the reintroduction. However, these reintroduction programs must address challenges such as human-wildlife conflicts, habitat connectivity, and public perception to ensure the sustainable coexistence of brown bears and human communities. Comprehensive management plans that include community involvement, continuous monitoring, and adaptive strategies are essential to the success of brown bear reintroduction in forest restoration efforts.

I. Guidelines

Nº	Title	Author	Year	Focus Region	Language	Summary	Link
1	Guidelines for releasing marsican brown bear cubs into nature	Latini	2015	Italy	English	Experiences and guidelines for reintroducing bear cubs, with a focus on the marsican subspecies.	https://www.parcoabruzzo.it/pdf/Guidelines.for.release.bear.cub.pdf
2	Rehabilitación de osos huérfanos, heridos y abandonados – Integrando conservación del oso y bienestar animal	Blanco et al. - Fundación Oso Pardo	2016	Spain	Spanish	Manual para la reintroducción de osos huérfanos o heridos, y su cuidado previo.	https://fundacionosopardo.org/publicaciones/serie-de-documentos-tecnicos-1/
3	Manual de buenas prácticas para la gestión de corredores oseros en la Cordillera Cantábrica	Fundación Oso Pardo et al.	2012	Spain	Spanish	Manual de buenas prácticas para garantizar la comunicación entre subpoblaciones y núcleos reproductores del oso pardo cantábrico.	https://fundacionosopardo.org/publicaciones/manual-de-buenas-practicas-para-la-gestion-de-corredores-oseros-en-la-cordillera-cantabrica/
4	Mejora del hábitat del oso pardo en entornos mineros degradados	Fundación Oso Pardo	2014	Spain	Spanish	Resumen del proyecto de actuación de mejora de hábitat del oso pardo en un entorno parcialmente degradado por minería.	https://fundacionosopardo.org/publicaciones/mejora-del-habitat-del-oso-pardo-en-entornos-mineros-degradados-otras/
5	Guidelines for Common Management of Brown Bear in the Alpine and Northern Dinaric Region	Černe et al.	2017	Alps and Dinarics	English	Guidelines for the management of brown bears in the Alps and Dinaric region.	https://dinalpbear.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Guidelines-for-Common-Management-of-Brown-Bear-2017.pdf

II. Books or book chapters

Nº	Title	Author	Chapter	Chapter author	Year	Focus region	Language	Summary	Link
1	High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World	Catalan et al.	The Importance of Reintroducing Large Carnivores: The Brown Bear in the Pyrenees.	Palazón	2017	Spain	English	The case of the restoration of the brown bear in the Spanish Pyrenees to show the importance of large carnivores in mountain areas.	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_10
2	Osos cantábricos. Demografía, coexistencia y retos de conservación.	Palomero et al.	-	-	2021	Spain	Spanish	El oso pardo en la Cordillera Cantábrica: demografía, seguimiento, interacción humano-oso, y conservación.	https://fundacionosopardo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Osos-cant%C3%A1bricos.-Demograf%C3%ADa-coexistencia-y-retos-de-conservaci%C3%B3n.pdf

III. Scientific articles

Nº	Title	Author	Year	Focus region	Language	Type	Summary	Link
1	Brown bear reintroduction in the Southern Alps: To what extent are expectations being met?	Tosi et al.	2021	Italy	English	Descriptive study	Analyzes the outcomes of the brown bear reintroduction in Italy, highlighting challenges related to habitat suitability and human interactions	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2015.03.007
2	Restoration of transborder connectivity for Fennoscandian brown bears (Ursus arctos)	Kopatz et al.	2021	Finland	English	Descriptive study	Assesses the genetic and demographic connectivity in Fennoscandian brown bears	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108936
3	Bear Reintroductions: Lessons and Challenges: Invited Paper	Clark et al.	2002	United States	English	Narrative review	Lessons on bear reintroduction (both black and brown bear) in United States	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3873214
4	Up-scaling local-habitat models for large-scale conservation: Assessing suitable areas for the brown bear comeback in Europe	Scharf & Fernández	2018	Europe	English	Modelling approach	Modelling the potential habitat suitability for brown bear at a European level	https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12796
5	The Apennine Brown Bear: A Critical Review of Its Status and Conservation Problems	Ciucci & Boltani	2008	Italy	English	Descriptive study	Review of the status, current knowledge, and past management of the Apennine brown bear population	https://doi.org/10.2192/07PER012.1
6	Conservation of brown bear in the Alps: space use and settlement behavior of reintroduced bears	Preatoni et al.	2005	Italy	English	Descriptive study	Describes the post-release behavior of brown bears in the central Italian Alps	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2005.04.002
7	Planning the Brown Bear Ursus arctos reintroduction in the Adamello Brenta Natural Park. A tool to establish a metapopulation in the Central-Eastern Alps	Mustoni et al.	2003	Italy	English	Descriptive study	Study on the habitat suitability of Northern Italy for brown bears and lessons from past reintroduction experiences in Europe	https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-14.1-2-4313