Lynx translocation is a complex process and its success is influenced by many factors, including the acceptance of translocated lynx by the local people. The LIFE Lynx project members are very appreciative of those who are willing to join the Local Consultative Groups (LCGs), set up to improve engagement with the local public.
In two years, nine presentations about the project and workshops with local stakeholders were carried out in Primorsko-Notranjska and Kočevsko regions. At meetings, we provided information about the project and answered questions regarding the lynx translocations. Together, we have explored the possibilities of establishing ecotourism and ensuring coexistence with large carnivores.
As a thank you for participating in Local Consultative Groups and an opportunity to socialize, we organized the first annual meeting of LCG members with the project team members in Žerovnica on February, 28. Participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Loška Dolina, Mr. Janez Komidar, than Rok Černe from the Slovenian Forest Service spoke about the project and translocated lynx and Tomaž Skrbinšek from the Biotechnical Faculty who explained the genetic background of lynx’s danger of extinction due to mating in kinship. At the end of the official part of the meeting, Bojan Bauer, a hunter from the Osilnica hunting family, shared his experiences with lynx. He ended up wishing that someday his son would observe lynx in the forests, as he did with his father.
Hunter Bojan Bauer shared his experience with lynx. Photo: Manca Velkavrh, LIFE Lynx
We are very glad that many of LCG members arrived at the gathering from different areas – even from Kranjska Gora and border regions of Slovenia and Croatia! Thank you all for a lovely evening, but to those of you who did not manage to attend this meeting, we hope to catch you at the next similar event.
Photo: Maja Sever, LIFE Lynx
Local Consultative Group members. Photo: Manca Velkavrh, LIFE Lynx