Colourised photo, Bucharest c.1923. Around New Year, “bear dances” were still a real custom: captive brown bears led through the streets, made to perform for luck and entertainment.

We asked 22 innovators (in 3 separate groups) embedded in the ancient wood-pastures of Transylvania to draw the ideal wood-pasture, and explain how it functions. Ideal wood-pasture features are already (still) present and only need maintenance. The social dimensions are, however, to be restored.

Thanks for sharing! We made a wonderful team with IfaS colleagues, led by Frank Wagener!

Wilderness beyond fence. Imagine you wake up, go back to your yard for an innocent walk and a curious and relaxed bear is saying hello from the other side of the yard.

Forms, practices, relationships, presented through old willow pollards: youtu.be/mBZ07g6frDk?...

In romanian about biocultural refugia. youtu.be/5g0r6p2IKes?...

Beaver, the engineer; a keystone species helping landscapes navigate drought. Bear and fox tracks nearby, cows and sheep grazing around. Near Sfântu Gheorghe.

Regularly pollarded willows near Sfântu Gheorghe keep an old tradition alive. Every 4–6 years, they provide firewood and stakes—while sustaining biodiversity, cultural memory, and even habitats for protected insects.

One of the many wood-pastures we assessed to understand them under the lens of the Cultural Values Model by Janet Stephenson. See link of our paper published in People and Nature below.

We have so much to learn from traditional Transylvanian wood pasture management. Mixed farming communities need to be supported for their true value of working with nature and preserving food systems not just how they compete with the short term thinking of corporate agriculture.

We used the Cultural Values Model to assess biocultural change in Transylvanian wood-pastures. Traditional features persist but mix with electric fencing (establishing) and mechanization, especially in lowlands. Stewardship is eroding. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I am also in this list LOL. Thanks Euan!

Inspiring paper, congrats to the team!

Technically: (Urban) Ecosystem disservices. In a more inclusive formulation: "negative contributions of (urban) nature to people" In a more popular formulation: bird shit Funnily: Birds took one look at our pipe and said “nice toilet” Technically: (Urban) Ecosystem disservices.

Good morning! Breite ancient oak wood-pasture, Sighișoara - Schäßburg - Segesvár.

Open, unfenced wood-pasture with traditional biocultural physiognomy, surrounded by wilderness. As the herder family told: this is a/the genuine herder life.

Save the old wood-pastures! And create new ones. #Woodpasture

Large old trees, no fences, scattered shrubs, mushrooms, bears. These were once normal features of Transylvanian wood-pastures. Since 2022, rapid change is on-going on them. By 2030, most will lose their traditional shape and role. And people may forget they ever looked different.

I wish you a wonderful day with this traditional wood-pasture and pastoral life. The dogs are guarding the herd. It is one of the highest bear density areas of Romania, where in the past 25 years 2 bear attacks happened: one on a sheep and one on a young cow. Both ca 10 years ago. No electric fence.

🧵 NEW PAPER in PNAS by our team member Cristian Papp! Theory of Change framework for connectivity conservation across 4 landscapes Rare achievement for Romanian ecology! 📖 sescarnivore.ro/blog5.html 🔗 pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2410937122 #EcologicalConnectivity #PNAS #Research

Livestock guardian dogs resting in the shade, essential allies in protecting herds from large carnivores. The wooden yokes around their necks are traditional devices that prevent them from chasing wildlife such as deer or hares, maintaining a balance between protection and coexistence.

Based on the field assessment of 110 Transylvanian wood-pastures and semi-structured interviews with over 50 locals knowing these systems, we identified five distinct biocultural profiles. These reflect diverse management regimes, historical trajectories, and socio-institutional dynamics.

Recent rains refilled the temporary ponds. Wild animals line up for a splash: it’s the boars’ turn now, the bear is waiting. Footage from my friend László Csákány.

Hey mom is it safe or should we climb the tree? Nothing can be more hesrth warming like two playing bear cubs in the wild.

Will these wonderful animals be around us in the future? It is entirely depending on us. Bears are smart, they can negociate if we create and respect the premisses. They dont want troubles for us. It is all on us, people.

Endangered toad thrives in human-made ponds! Over 3 yrs, the yellow bellied toad showed persistence in a Romanian forest pondscape shaped by off-road vehicles. Connectivity mattered most early on, but drought shifted use to stable ponds. A conservation paradox. Link in first comment.

Please follow our site SESCARNIVORE on BlueSky bsky.app/profile/sesc...

Exactly the sort of work going on here in Montgomeryshire. Interesting how much traditional agriculture has to teach us about managing landscapes in ways that benefit nature...

Local farmers in Transylvania built small earth dams along an intermittent stream to retain water for cattle during drought. These nature-based solutions also create temporary wetlands, supporting biodiversity. Like beavers or ancient aurochs, humans can shape resilient landscapes.

Our project on large-carnivore - human coexistence has a formal webpage! Please explore it, and see our first blog post. More will come. sescarnivore.ro/blog1.html

Out with my bear for a little bit of grazing. Greetings, Tibi

The brown bear in Transylvania uses human-dominated landscapes, from crops and roads to wilderness. It is an adaptable, opportunistic species capable of avoiding conflict and coexisting with humans. It is our turn to make this happen. Pictures from László Csákány.

An ancient wood-pasture, once open and alive with people, is now swallowed by forest. Bears still roam, but they’re seen as oddities. This is shifting baseline syndrome (see link to my YouTube movie, in English, in first comment to this post).

In this cultural landscape, the probability of at least one bear being present is higher than the probability of no bears being present in the area captured by the photo. Transylvania, a lansdcape I know well.

These oak 'saplings' aren’t young, they’re ancient. What looks like fresh regeneration is actually root suckering: genetically old trees sending up new shoots. A special form of biologically fundamented woodland resilience.

Ancient oak wood-pasture.

A new study by @cristimecotrail.bsky.social, @thartel.bsky.social, and coauthors evaluates trail running events in Romania’s mountain areas and proposes principles for increasing their sustainability through biodiversity protection and community engagement. Read the article: t.ly/WUgxg

Kids counting egg masses of Agile Frog, Rana dalmatina. 120-150:)

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I believe the US will move closer to Europe again. Like a decent man who fell in with thugs, only to realize that chaos and fear aren't a way to live - and finds his way back to those who share his values.

Lovely and motivating! www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wZw...

Dear USA friends. Hope you manage to avoid dictatorship in your country. Now is the moment to maniphest. Not later. Later will be too costly. And you will do it. Choose the less costly path. Now.

Message from Dan Perjovschi to Germany: HE.U.TE Indeed.

rUSsia (reposted from artist Dan Perjovschi)

Three years ago, people expected the Russian population to solve its internal political issues. Now, let’s see what the U.S. population does. Democracy is said to be more firmly established here, both in values and institutions.

Canadian ”…federal government will recognize Aboriginal title over the archipelago of Haida Gwaii off British Columbia's northern coast in a historic agreement with the Haida First Nation.” Following BC’s recognition last year www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

One thing I admired Americans for was they provided efficient and effective aid for people around the world. I thought this made America great. The PEPFAR program saved plausibly about 25 million lives and prevented at least 5.5 million babies from being born with HIV. See: pepfarreport.org

BAHAHA!

The US should have institutional and political mechanisms to prevent the chaos fueled by figures like Musk and Trump. It’s hard to believe an entire system can be this vulnerable. Even in Romania, with its history of corruption, you can’t just dismantle formal institutions and fire people overnight.