Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are emblems of the Canadian wilderness. Yet as human development encroaches on remaining grizzly bear habitat, the future of the grizzly bear is uncertain. Of equal concern is human safety, particularly in communities adjacent to or located in bear habitat. Grizzly bears and black bears (Ursus americanus) are opportunistic feeders and known for their likelihood to become habituated to humans and their environments. Several years ago, communities in British Columbia (B.C.) initiated Bear Aware or BearSmart campaigns designed to manage human-bear interactions. Through these programs, communities organize grassroots stewardship committees that lead a number of initiatives (bylaws, land-use recommendations, and educational tools) to reduce bear-human incidents. This program has proven so successful that the Province of Alberta is currently piloting a BearSmart program in two communities in southern Alberta, prior to a provincial launch.
This paper examines the successes, failures and lessons-learned from several BearSmart or Bear Aware communities in B.C. and the on-going development in Alberta. There seems to be no debate that when communities successfully reduce attractants, such as bird feeders, garbage, fruit, or animal feed, bears are less likely to become food conditioned or habituated. As a result, many communities demonstrated a reduction in the numbers of bear-human incidents and bear mortalities.
The bear awareness programs and BearSmart status for municipalities is a terrific example of community-based conservation. While this research intended to determine the importance of tourism to BearSmart, it instead revealed the importance of community support and broad stakeholder involvement. In essence, it shows that community-based programs can, indeed, have a positive effect on managing and conserving natural resources.
