State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic Juraj Smatana and the head of the Brown Bear Intervention Team North, Michal Haring, participated today in a conference call with Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Italian region of Trentino – Alto Adige, Slovak Ambassador to Italy Karla Wursterová, Director of the Trentino Forest Service Giovanni Giovannini, the Trentine Region Assessor for Agriculture, Forests, Hunting and Fisheries Giulia Zanotelli and the Head of the Trentine Region Department of Civil Defence and Fauna Protection, Raffaele De-Colo. The main topic discussed by the participants was preventive measures to minimise human-bear encounters.
Italian participants were interested in the practical functioning of the Brown Bear Intervention Team, which was described to them by the head of Intervention Team North, Michal Haring. Representatives of the Ministry of the Environment shared their experience with addressing the problem of synanthropic bears that have lost their shyness and for which it is no longer possible to return to their natural way of life.
The video conference eventually led to an agreement on closer cooperation. “The representatives of the Italian region asked us for help with the interpretation of European legislation concerning the care of protected animals, but also for practical advice on how to proceed in specific situations,” said Juraj Smatana, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment of the SR.
The Italian partners also asked the representatives of the Slovak Ministry of the Environment for a personal meeting, which should take place this summer.
