The brown bear in Norway, II: Management and planning

This paper presents three different management plans designed to give longterm protection to 17 Norwegian subpopulations of brown bear Ursus arctors L. Plan I was developed by an expert committee, which proposed approx. 220 bears in six different ‘security-areas’ (SA) totalling 95 930 km 2. Each SA is designed to support a viable population of bears in a specific area. Plan II proposes a minimum of 250 bears in two large management ranges (16 2000 km 2) on multiple use lands in Norway. The main objective is to prevent future ‘isolation’, a decrease in gene flow potential, and fragmentation of habitat which might affect future population growth. 3lan III suggests cooperation with Sweden and Finland. Two large management zones (377 000 km 2) with a future target population of 1000 bears is proposed. This strategy of international cooperation would secure genetically viable populations and sufficiently large areas to provide the highest level of demographic protection. The problems of adjusting population number to area are discussed on the basis of theoretical island biogeography and recent findings in conservation biology.