The Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos Large Carnivore Initiative

Monitoring wildlife is crucial for conservation and management, as it provides valuable information on population trends and distribution. Efficient monitoring is costly in terms of time and resources, including personnel. These costs increase in large, remote regions that are difficult to reach, limiting monitoring activities, especially when they extend over national borders.

The Dinaric Mountains are a rugged and extensive mountain range where brown bears roam vast transboundary areas, including remote mountainous regions and dense forests. Additionally, the area’s political fragmentation makes cross-border coordination difficult. To ensure meaningful and comparable data, effective monitoring in such regions requires international cooperation and harmonised methodologies in addition to a considerable number of trained personnel.

Collaborative monitoring through citizen science offers a powerful solution. By engaging local stakeholders like hunters and foresters, who regularly work in bear habitats, monitoring challenges become opportunities. These local experts serve as citizen scientists, improving data collection whilst fostering shared responsibility for conservation. The EU LIFE-funded DINALP project exemplifies this approach in Slovenia and Croatia, where hunters, foresters, and volunteers collect bear scat samples for genetic analysis. Sustained engagement is maintained through personal interaction and personalised feedback, complemented by annual population status reports.