Effects of San Glorio Ski Resort, Spain, on Brown Bears

20 December 2005

Re: Effects of San Glorio Ski Resort on Brown Bears

Dear Sirs,

The International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) is the professional organization for wildlife biologists working to conserve and restore the world’s bears through research, science-based population and habitat management, and education. Our organization is comprised of nearly 600 bear specialists from 47 countries and includes university professors, biologists working in natural resource agencies, non-governmental organizations, and zoos, graduate students, and educators. Our members conduct scientific research, monitor and manage bear populations, and work to prevent human-bear conflicts. IBA sponsors international conferences and publishes the peer-reviewed scientific journal “Ursus” which is the foremost source of technical and scientific information about the world’s 8 bear species.

It has been brought to our attention that a project is scheduled to begin in the near future in order to build a ski resort in San Glorio (León and Palencia provinces), located within the range of the Cantabrian brown bear in northern Spain. In the Cantabrian range, brown bears are found in 2 small and seemingly isolated populations. These populations are 2 of only five very small isolated populations that exist in southern and Western Europe, and represent tiny remnants of a once widespread brown bear population across all Eurasia.

Available information indicates that the Cantabrian bears are probably recovering in numbers (as a result, among other possible reasons, of the intensive recovery efforts carried out in the last decades with substantial economic support by European, national and regional funding sources) but not expanding in range and are still highly threatened with extinction because of both the small overall population size (below 100 animals; in the Eastern nucleus on average only 1-3 females reproduce every year) and the isolation between the two sub-populations. The eastern Cantabrian bear population is estimated at 25-30 bears and appears to be expanding to the west, re-colonizing areas where reproduction events have been documented in the last years. According to the information provided to the IBA, the area where the new resort is going to be built lies in the western portion of the recorded Brown bear reproduction areas, where female bears with cubs were observed in 2005. Due to the importance of this location for these 2 globally significant bear populations, we ask you to review and consider the potential impacts of this action on bears before proceeding with the project.

We thus request that the Government of Spain and the Autonomous Region of Castille and Leon provide information on the status of this project. The IBA is particularly interested in the results of an Environmental Impact Assessment for the project, if this has been conducted, and in particular, if the Environmental Impact Assessment assessed the potential effects of the ski resort development on increasing the isolation between the two bear populations and affecting the habitat of the bears’ reproduction areas. As an independent association of experts in bear conservation, we also respectfully request that the authorities of Spain provide us with a copy of the EIA and allow us to formally evaluate the study. If our expertise can be of any service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for consideration of our remarks.

Sincerely yours,



Harry Reynolds, President
International Association for Bear Research and Management