Apennines Marsican Bear Heritage Area

The Marsican brown bear is a subspecies of brown bear that only exists in this central part of Italy. Since at least the 15th Century, the bears have been embedded in the traditions, stories, and life of the Apennines’ rural communities. However, due to habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict there are only 60 left in the world, making them critically endangered.

Regional land management practices are not necessarily aligned with rewilding and biodiversity principles and, more often than not, landowners lack sufficient knowledge and adequate support to prevent and mitigate wildlife conflicts. There is no robust landscape approach to conflict mitigation. Over the last six years Rewilding Apennines has been piloting a bear smart community approach - a coexistence model from British Colombia -  and is now scaling up the initiative across 16 municipalities, in collaboration with key local stakeholders.

• The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is a unique subspecies of brown bear that can only be found in a restricted area of the Central Apennines, with around 60 individuals left.
• It is classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For this reason it is protected by both Italian and European legislation.
• The Marsican brown bear is considered an umbrella species. It is important to design conservation strategies to protecting umbrella species because they have an impact on their habitats which indirectly provide opportunities for many other species to thrive.