Coexistence between humans and large predators? It’s a child’s play!

Credit: Jessica Micklem-Kolenić

The European Platform for Coexistence between People and Large Carnivores has chosen the 2025 International Junior Ranger Camp in the Casentinesi Forests National Park as a laboratory for a new educational method to raise awareness on challenges and solutions for coexistence with wolves and other large carnivores.

The International Junior Ranger Camp is hosted each year in a European protected area by members of the EUROPARC Federation and is open to young people from the EUROPARC Junior Ranger programme. On Sunday the 27th July, the Casentinesi Forests National Park opened its doors to Junior Rangers (aged 14 – 16), Mentors and Rangers from 19 protected areas across 12 countries. They will be staying for 1 week in the heart of the forest, learning about hands-on nature conservation and learning about the history, culture and biodiversity of the region.

Credit: Emanuele Perez

A representative of the EU Platform secretariat, Sophie Evers from adelphi, joined for the first day and shared the efforts of the platform for the 5 large carnivores in Europe: the grey wolf (Canis lupus), the lynx (Lynx lynx and Lynx pardinus), the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the golden jackal (Canis aureus), and the wolverine (Gulo gulo). The conservation and management of these iconic animals is complex as their needs can bring them into conflict with human activities. Recognizing the importance of these issues, the European Commission and a group of organizations representing the major interest groups (protected areas, environmental organisations, landowners, herders, hunters and more) decided to collaborate, creating the EU Platform for stakeholder engagement in 2014 and supporting similar local and regional stakeholder platforms since 2018.

Credit: Jessica Micklem-Kolenić

The Junior Rangers spent the afternoon role playing as stakeholders of a village where wolves made a comeback after 100 years. They had to step into the shoes of different characters including livestock farmers who had lost sheep to the wolves, local citizens worried about their children, nature guides interested in promoting new wolf tourism, the local municipality who received funding for mitigation measures, as well as scientists, hunters, and others. This game aims to raise awareness on the different perspectives as well as showcasing how groups with different interests can come together to dialogue and agree on a path forward all together.

Wildlife Photographer Giorgio Amadori
Credit: Elo Raspel

The facilitators of each group led them through possible mitigation measures and towards consensus on a maximum of three solutions. Almost all groups were able to agree on at least one solution and presented their experience at the end. This new tool is available on the website of the EU Platform in 12 EU languages and is being translated into another 10 EU languages for all to use.

The Casentinesi Forests National Park was a great laboratory and amplifier for this tool and the Junior Ranger Mentors were enthusiastic about taking the game home to play with more young people. The Director of the park, Andrea Gennai, presented the coexistence measures in place in the Casentinesi Forests and mentors from the Protected Area of Maritime Alps (Italy), Endla Nature Reserve (Estonia) and the Julian Prealps Natural Park (Italy) shared their local experiences with wolves as well.

The rest of the week was filled with exciting activities and will be very memorable for the international guests and the local hosting team. They got to meet local wildlife photographer Giorgio Amadori and learnt about monitoring the wolf populations in the Park by the park staff together with the carabinieri.