Abruzzo, Italy. Here lives the last population of the Marsican bear, a subspecies of brown bear unique in the world now reduced to just over 50 specimens, recently the subject of great media coverage, including international, for the shooting death of a symbolic bear: Amarena . Wolves, after centuries of persecution, have instead started to expand again, occupying vast areas. The mountain population, once mainly dedicated to agriculture and pastoralism, with the new generations prefers to abandon their places of origin for large urban centers. The old professions slowly disappear. The harshness of the territory, largely uninhabited, the harsh climate and the scarce economic resources do not make life easy. Woodcutters, artisans and shepherds survive more for the love of their profession than for their ability to meet the needs of their families. Even though tourism has developed greatly in recent years, it is not able to continuously support the needs of communities. However, there are signs that give rise to hope. Here 30% of the territory is protected: three national parks plus some protected regional areas represent a highly respectable naturalistic area for a country like Italy. Coexistence, albeit delicate, between man and wildlife is not only possible here, but is renewed daily thanks also to the great communication and awareness work done by naturalistic associations in recent decades. Despite some isolated episodes of intolerance, a large part of the population seems to have understood that the best approach to follow is the construction of a social model which, while safeguarding nature, seeks new forms of economic development for local communities.