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According to the Brown Bear Foundation, leisure and sports activities, in general, are increasing in the Spanish mountains, constituting a crucial resource for rural development. However, such activities may pose a threat to the recovery of species such as the brown bear, a priority species in the Habitats Directive.

In this context, this project has aimed to develop a demonstrative system of early warnings to detect, characterise and (in agreement with the Autonomous Communities of Asturias and Castilla y León) mitigate threats to the bear and its habitat in the western Cantabrian nucleus, developing actions 1.1.6 and 1.1.7 of the Strategic Plan for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.

The project is relevant to develop the Recovery Plans for the bear in the Spanish autonomous communities, according to the entity. It is also synergistic with the conservation activities of the Cantabrian capercaillie, in a critical situation, and due to its preventive nature it can be very effective if applied to other threatened species or habitats.

The general objective of the project has been to develop an early warning system to detect, characterise and mitigate the threats of leisure and sports activities on the brown bear.

The specific objectives have been the following:

• Characterization of leisure and sports activities likely to impact the brown bear.
• Coordination with the competent Administrations .
• Enable a field team to detect, characterize and resolve early warnings.
• Characterization of conflicts and proposal of solutions.

• Preparation of an inventory of leisure and sports activities carried out in mountain areas likely to have a direct or indirect impact on the bear and its habitat.

• Legal review of the regulations relating to each of these activities, considering the difference between the different protected or non-protected areas in the study area (Principality of Asturias and Castilla y León).

• Preparation of the coordination protocol with the Autonomous Communities of Asturias and Castilla y León. In the two meetings held, it was determined that it was not necessary to establish new specific action protocols, but that it would be developed within the framework of the cooperation agreements in force between the Brown Bear Foundation and both autonomous communities.

• Detection of threats and activation of protocols and early warnings. In total, 67 alerts were made over an area of 550,000 hectares, and a report was drawn up for each of the alerts detected.

• Conducting interviews with 246 users of the environment in bear areas on the possible impacts that mountain activities can generate on the brown bear and its habitat.

• Preparation of a final document on the problems caused by leisure activities and mountain sports and potential conflicts over this species and its habitat.

• Dissemination and communication of the project, including participation in 14 articles in newspapers and other media and the production of 28 publications on social networks. On the other hand, 2 meetings have been held with interested groups and two informative documents have been generated in digital and downloadable format to inform mountain users, one for Asturias and the other for León, both in Spanish, English and French.

The Brown Bear Foundation maintains that, in recent years, there has been an increase in the appreciation of natural spaces by citizens, which translates into a boom in recreational activities that take place within them. These activities generate resources for rural economies and contribute to their development and to curb depopulation, so they are positive, but, according to the entity itself, they must be properly regulated to ensure that they do not interfere with the conservation of endangered species, such as the brown bear, and in the good coexistence with them.

This project has contributed to identifying and assessing situations that may be problematic for this coexistence in several protected natural areas of Asturias and León with a bear population, and has developed a procedure that allows the autonomous communities to intervene appropriately and in time in the face of urgent problems of compliance with regulations on bear watching and other public uses in these spaces.

Firstly, an inventory of 78 possible mountain tourism and leisure activities that could directly or indirectly affect this species and its habitat was drawn up. 41 of these activities were evaluated by several experts, receiving points for their possible degree of interference with the conservation of the brown bear. This preliminary analysis has been reinforced with an extensive legal study and with surveys and consultations with users of the environment that have provided valuable information on the perception that users of these environments have about the species.

The main results are that, during 2020, 67 alerts of possible interactions between humans and bears were detected over an area of 550,000 hectares, and a report was drawn up for each of the alerts detected. In addition, a final document has been prepared on the problems caused to the bear and its habitat by leisure activities and mountain sports and potential conflicts, as well as proposals for solutions.

Finally, as an informative and awareness-raising task, the publication of two fold-out brochures, available online, aimed at informing mountain users about the behaviour to follow in the event of a bear sighting, among other aspects, stands out.

According to the Brown Bear Foundation, all this work will serve to implement measures that facilitate the coexistence of the brown bear and humans, contributing in the long term to the stabilization of populations and the conservation of this species.