Hunting in Sardinia. On September 6st the new hunting season opens in Sardinia with the turtle dove hunting while from Sunday November 29th we start with wild boar hunts, a big game that will go on until January 2017th XNUMX. Hunting Calendar 2016-2017 it was approved by the Regional Wildlife Committee, chaired by the Councilor for the Environment, Donatella Spano. But the calendar is still marked by uncertainty.
THE PROTEST. The cry of pain towards the Region comes from the Nuorese hunters. "The Sardinia Region is the only one, among the 21 Italian regions, not to have put into practice the rule on ATC, Territorial Areas of Hunting, underlined Lallo Manca, manager of the UCS, Union of hunters of Sardinia, a sort of sacred monster of hunting and a point of reference for all fans of Nuorese and beyond -. We navigate on sight and in uncertainty. So much so that even on the last occasion the Calendar was not decreed, as the rule requires, but directly approved. Precisely to overcome the limits of non-compliance with national law ”.
THE LAW. What does Lallo Manca refer to? The Sardinian Region has not yet implemented the national framework law on wildlife and hunting activities of 1992, starting from that part that provides for the creation of the Territorial Hunting Areas. A question on which the different position of the hunting associations of the various territories weighs, divided between the choice of a single area or the division of the island into provincial areas. For the 40 thousand Sardinian hunters engaged in wild boar jokes also the obligation to comply with the requirements for the eradication of African swine fever, decided by the project unit of the Region.
FIRST THE CALENDAR. Four months of hunting, with the pre-opening to the turtle dove, with two full days on 1 and 4 September. Before the definitive start on 25 September, with the two half days assigned to hunt partridges and hares, the so-called “noble sedentary”. The last Sunday of September also opens for rabbit, quail, blackbird, thrush and woodcock hunting, together with water game, starting with mallard. The wood pigeon can be fired from 2 October, with a first half day of opening, and then uninterruptedly until February, when the hunting season will come to an end. In between the three months of the big game.
THE OPINION. The opinion of Lallo Manca, Nuorese manager of UCS, the Sardinian Hunter Union: “There are strengths and weaknesses. The mistake, once again, is not to have decided to stop hunting partridges and hares. These are species present in scarce numbers, also because eggs and broods are prey to foxes, dogs and cats. However, there is the part of hunters, especially from the south of the island, which pushes in the opposite direction ”.
SAFEGUARD. The provincial wildlife committee proposed to have a keen eye on environmental protection and the survival of wild species. Committee restarted after a year of interruption, with the choice for the presidency of Lallo Manca. He explains: “The limit is to write a calendar without a prior census of the species present in the territory, with specific attention to those at risk of extinction”.
EXPERIMENTS. A necessary operation, even if not easy, as confirmed by the Nuorese manager himself. Lallo Manca recalls the self-managed experiment of Irgoli, entrusted to two agronomists. “In the end partial results, on the presence of partridges. I believe because of the limits of the methods used: because the singing test is fine, but you can't help but take your pointing dogs with you, as well as checking the presence and number of fountains, where the partridge goes to drink ". On the calendar also the thought of Bernardo Obinu, hunter of the lower Barony: “It is not satisfactory. It is done by feeling, without the necessary weighting of reality ".
THE COMPLAINT. Among the vices of origin, the stalemate in which the Regional Wildlife Plan ended and the failure to establish ATC, Territorial hunting areas, provided for by the national law 157 of 1992, in compliance with the Birds Directive of the EEC, of 1979. An organism called to govern to create harmony between hunting and nature conservation. The greatest advantage is to link each hunter to a territorial area, with the responsibility of protecting it.
THE ACCUSATION. From Nuoro he accuses the associations of the south of the island, for which the ideal is a single territorial area of hunting, in order to be able to move without limits. “The pact between hunter and territory can only be done with the definition of borders - concluded Lallo Manca -. It will be up to the hunter to choose which area to connect to. Also mitigating the conflict with farmers, who often report damage by those who go hunting on their farms ”.
(31 July 2016)
Source: LaNuovaSardegna-Nuoro