Description

Few places in Europe where nature is still preserved in its wildest state remained untouched. These wild areas have a major impact on the wellbeing of our natural environment, on which we depend but their resilience is dependent on the coexistence of the locals communities with wildlife. The Carpathian Mountains are an important biodiversity reservoir, providing habitat for emblematic species like the brown bears, gray wolves, Eurasian lynx and recently bison. Bison as a wild large herbivore are a key instrument for naturally restoring degraded areas as they help maintain the diversity and richness of these landscapes. In 2012 WWF and Rewilding Europe started an ambitious bison rewilding initiative in the SW Carpathian Mountains in Romania, a species vital to wilderness connectivity. The first bison rewilding site is located in a key movement corridor for large carnivores between 2 national parks/mountain ranges. Still, it is local communities that will safeguard these areas on the long run so they need to be involved and benefit from wilderness, but human-wildlife conflict remains a complex issue that revolves around safety, economics, gender, politics and psychology. To reduce conflict, we need evidence-based, practical solutions that benefit both nature and society pressure points and resolve conflict areas with wildlife now, in the same pace as we evolve this pioneering bison rewilding approach and ecotourism developments.
We seek a partner to implement swift solutions to Human Wildlife Coexistence focusing on one flagship species - European Bison. By deploying contemporary ingenuity and technology to basic conservation challenges, involving local people we can generate a transferable model to positively impact many other conservation hotspots at a national level (based on relevant species to similar habitats and food chain composition, such as the wolf, bear and lynx).  

Target

We focus on the 2nd bison rewilding site in Romania, the Bison Hillock, in the Tarcu Mountains, SW Carpathians, a WWF priority conservation area and one of Europe’s most valuable areas for maintaining and extending wilderness-a last refuge for some of Europe’s flagship species and landscapes.
We target:
1. Communities living in pristine wilderness areas who are the long-term gatekeepers of these valuable natural hotspots. 
2. Rangers - the wildlife managers on the frontline of mitigating human wildlife conflict who are in urgent need of data driven decision-making in order to address basic conservation challenges.  
3. Forestry workers and hunters - they have the most frequent accidental contact with the wildlife and can report on events and encounters relevant to better wildlife management
4. Makers, innovators, engineers to prototype and co-design with locals and naturalists innovative solutions to mitigating human wildlife conflict. 

Competencies

The main vision of WWF is that it can tackle a nature issue by trying to address community issues
-create the conditions (existing facilities include a Visitor Centre and the Wilderness Research station) for different tribes to work in an for nature, nurture/strengthen bonds with nature across disciplines (working with an art and science laboratory, a design collective, architecture associations, business accelerators, ICT)
-feed the demand for ethical and natural local products and services through the transit/visit/involvement of diverse people.

The initiative is led by WWF’s Communities Development Specialist with a specific assignment to build unlikely alliances and holistic theories of change, which enhance the core conservation work by developing evidence-based, practical solutions that benefit both nature and society; by testing and refine the proposed prototypes. By investing human resources and network partners in scaling the ideas and give birth to new nature-tech startups.

Innovation

A pioneering conservation initiative is an opportunity for a transferrable model for wilderness areas resilience if we co-create and scale technology-based solutions:
1. A real-time low cost monitoring solution, focused on GPS tracking and radio transmission with potential to integrate several sensors such an accelerometer.
2. A data-crunching dashboard powered by webArcGIS and developer tools, i.e. automated analytics of real time presence, wildlife behaviour data, qualitative inputs about human activity. A live decision making app to help rangers implement adaptive wildlife management of the bison and further design of an incentives. 
3. Sensor triggered deterrents using a pool of repellants combining/varying between smell, sound, light - even the electric fencing.

Commitment

- Two years GPS collar monitoring data from the leader of the biggest bison herd, habitat use data analysis, monitoring database with field observations covering dispersal, behaviour, indirect wildlife observations and more.
- Existing ties and on-going collaborations with conservation NGOs and groups working regionally and a nationally on human-wildlife conflict, connectivity and large scale nature restoration initiatives.
- WWF experts are active members of national working groups on ecological corridor designation, national bison rewilding, large carnivores, hunting, forest management, green infrastructure and human wildlife conflict as well as similar European networks such as the pioneering Wild Labs initiative.
- Global endorsement, outreach and communication around the programme within the WWF network as part of established knowledge sharing or public communication channels
- Technical development support from Modulab, our technology partners and access to their prototyping lab and team, responsible for the tech-powered visitor centre and its interactive installations showcasing monitoring data.
- Ongoing collaboration with impact investing body Conservation Capital is working on new financing models for conservation.
- Opportunities to validate, test or share data on Human Wildlife Conflict with the WWF network globally.

Compliance

Yes.