On August 2 and 3, from dawn to dusk, the town of Vastogirardi (Isernia) will host the first edition of the “Bear-Friendly Communities Festival”: Two days dedicated to the relationship between humans and nature, with a special focus on the challenges and opportunities that the presence of the Marsican brown bear—one of the iconic species of the Central Apennines—brings to the region.
Through hikes, role-playing games, debates, theater, performances, music, and workshops for adults and children, the program aims to promote peaceful coexistence with bears, demonstrating that this is a social and cultural process from which no one should feel excluded—and that it can be fostered through education and the active involvement of citizens who share the territory with bears.
Numerous organizations are participating in the many activities scheduled for a festival that has chosen to make diversity and hospitality its hallmarks: from local artisans and producers to the associations and organizations promoting the initiative—Rewilding Apennines, Salviamo l’Orso, Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park, Pro Loco Vastogirardi, the Vastogirardi Bear-Friendly Community Committee of Alto Molise, and the Municipality of Vastogirardi, with support from Rewilding Europe and LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors—as well as illustrators, conservation scientists, actors, and musicians who will seek to propose new and engaging ways to interpret the complex relationship between humans and bears, as well as to take attendees on a journey of discovery through the Central Apennines and their breathtaking wilderness.
> Read the full press release.