Update from our Sweden bear volunteer project
The 2024 Sweden Brown Bear research expedition is fast approaching.
We have the same team as last year of expedition scientist Andrea, expedition cook Luise and me running the expedition and we are busy preparing. I am taking a break from a sea kayaking journey in Scotland and will be heading direct to Sweden in the coming days. Louise will be joining us from Devon to take command of the kitchen and keep the expedition team well fed. And expedition Andrea is based in Sweden and currently busy fitting tracking collars to bears who have recently left their winter dens. It is the use of these tracking collars that allow us to find the dens that we survey on our expedition, while also collecting a range of other biological data needed for us to understand how the bear population of mid Sweden is affected by changing pressures from climate change, forest management and hunting. This is conservation research on the front line.
We will be using similar research methodologies as last year, but we have some new kit. Make sure you read past expedition reports (2023, 2022, 2019) so that you are fully informed when you arrive.
The weather in Kvarnberg is good at the moment, warm and sunny. Although of course this may change, so please do bring clothes suitable for any weather, as described in the expedition dossier.
I can’t wait to get started and I will be back in touch from Sweden when I have arrived to set everything up for you.
Roland Arnison
Expedition leader
Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation and the fight for a more sustainable planet 