“Living Together”: Save the date for EUROPARC Large Carnivores networking event

Living Together: coexistence between people and large carnivores

12-14 October 2017

Venzone (UD), Prealpi Giulie Natural Park

EUROPARC is organising from the 12- 14th October 2017 a workshop on Coexistence between people and large carnivores in partnership with the Prealpi Giulie Natural Park (IT) and the support of ELO – the European Landowners Organisation. This event will also be part of the networking initiatives promoted within the framework of the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process in the Alpine Region.

The event will support progress towards more effective management and protection of large carnivores, in coordination and with the involvement of the European Platform on coexistence between people and large carnivores and the WISO Platform of the Alpine Convention. The focus of the event will mainly be on the Alpine Region, but, as a cross-cutting topic, it’s open to other regions.

This initiative will provide a good opportunity to further discuss the relation between human and large carnivores and to share good practices for a better management of species and for the prevention and resolution of conflicts across the EU. The event will facilitate the sharing of expertise across multiple regions, providing a platform to follow-up on large carnivores discussions that started in the course of the recent Alpine Seminar, in Italy, and in the Boreal Seminar, last year in Lithuania.

Looking from different angles: a multi-stakeholder approach

The workshop is designed to be inclusive and will be developed to ensure an integrated audience of stakeholders. A primary purpose of the workshop will be to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue: in this respect, farmers, hunters, and tourism businesses will play a crucial role, presenting their views and sharing their practical expertise on the subject. The target species for the workshop will be the Brown Bear, the Wolf, and the Lynx.

Case studies and experience of large carnivore management, as well as initiatives for coexistence, will be presented. The location is in a transboundary Alpine area, at the border between Italy and Slovenia, which includes a large number of Protected Areas and Natura 2000 Sites. The event will be open to Member States and stakeholders from all biogeographic regions.

Programme overview

The workshop will take place over three days, with a mix of thematic and interactive dialogue building sessions. A site visit to a local farm will be part of the programme. During the workshop the following aspects will be considered and discussed:

• The role of stakeholders;
• The role of Natura 2000 sites and Protected Areas’ management authorities and public institutions;
• Legislative and financial tools for coexistence;
• Technologies and tools for coexistence (what is already available, what is being tested and developed, innovative projects);
• Awareness raising and environmental education for coexistence.

The programme will include the following case studies  (other case studies for presentation are currently being considered):

• Life project WolfAlps – http://www.lifewolfalps.eu/en/the-partnership-2/
• Life project DinAlpBear – http://dinalpbear.eu/project/project-area/
• Interreg Alpine Space – AlpBioNet 2030
• The Bears village – http://www.villaggiodegliorsi.it

During the workshop, the EU platform for coexistence between people and large carnivores will also present some of the best practices identified over recent years. An interactive knowledge market will be held where case studies and projects on coexistence will be presented and shared among participants.

Soon, the final programme will be released, as well as the registrations.

For more information please contact: Federico Minozzi – f.minozzi @ europarc.org.