The new Investigation Team West will be based in the municipality of Belá -Dulice.

The State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic (SNC SR) took over the building which should serve as a base for the new members of the Brown Bear Intervention Team today. Intervention Team West will operate from the municipality of Belá – Dulice, in the Martin district, and it will operate over almost the entire territory of the Žilina and Trenčín regions. The aim of establishing this new addition is to strengthen and streamline the work of the Intervention Team before the bear season.

As SNC SR General Director Dušan Karaska says: “It is important for us to be prepared before the season starts. The new Team West, operating from their base at the foot of the Veľká Fatra mountains, will make the team’s work faster and more efficient. Moreover, we are also keen to raise awareness in the region, including on how to properly secure waste.” In addition to the creation of the new team, personnel capacities of teams North and South will also be strengthened. There will be four staff members in each Intervention Team unit, one of whom will always act as the team leader.

“The new Investigation Team West will manage the territory in north-west Slovakia – namely the Žilina and Trenčín regions, of which the Prievidza district is currently the most problematic. Having said that, we have also received frequent reports from the Martin and Turčianske Teplice districts,” Dušan Karaska adds. The SNC SR has concluded an agreement on the lease of the building with the state enterprise Lesy Slovenskej republiky (Forests of the Slovak Republic).

The work of the members of the Intervention Team includes raising of awareness of the wide public about bear-related issues in Slovakia, educating the public about the possibilities of prevention and minimising risk, as well as actively preventing possible conflict situations and damage caused by bears. Team members communicate regularly with local governments, farmers and beekeepers and help them set the right preventive measures, such as installing electric scaring devices or fencing.

In addition to the personnel capacity building, the technical equipment used by the Intervention Team will also be strengthened thanks to funding from the Operational Programme Quality of Environment and from the Environmental Fund. Information about the activities of the Intervention Team can be found on their website https://zasahovytim.sopsr.sk/

This press release was prepared by the Department of Communication and Promotion of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic.