The project aims at preserving biodiversity in Maramures (historical Romanian Ukrainian region of the Carpathians) as a critical stepping stone for the connectivity of the Carpathian Mountains by reducing the risks of habitat fragmentation, restoring ecological corridors for bears as an umbrella species and by securing responsible use of natural resources. Main activities:1.1 Identify and map the habitats and distribution of brown bears in the project implementation area; 1.2 Monitoring of the brown bears in the project implementation area to establish the dispersion and the population dynamics; 1.3 Define the trans-boundary ecological network;2.1. Establish a network of experts to facilitate know-how exchange on responsible management of bear habitats and develop minimum management conservation measures Achievements: Critical habitats and movement corridors for bears identified within the 1,067,400 ha targeted by the project; Operating systems for bear monitoring; A Cross-border Expert Network, operating for responsible bear habitat management; 2 tools identified and implemented on 270,000 ha, for the effective management of natural resources that contribute to the conservation of the critical habitats and corridors for bears; Management measures identified and agreed for bear conservation and its habitats and sustainable development of the communities; 22 joint planning activities implemented involving key stakeholders; Enhanced capacity of protected areas staff, local authorities/decision makers and forest management units’ representatives by 7 trainings organized. Information materials developed for dissemination of toolkits among the local stakeholders. Information materials edited and distributed to the different target groups of the project.