Lots of parakeets in the wild
Scourge “alien” parrots on Tuscan agriculture. After wild boars, wolves, Asian velutine wasps and blue crabs from overseas, another species that does not belong to our ecosystem threatens the survival of farms and also the health of citizens by being able to transmit diseases such as salmonellosis and avian influenza. There are already over a thousand free-ranging monk parakeets flying above our heads raiding the countryside for almond trees, fruit, wheat, sunflowers, corn and everything they come across. An invasive avifauna species, native to the highlands of Africa and Asia, whose population is destined to grow rapidly in a short time, taking on the shapes and dimensions of a new calamity for farmers and a new problem to manage in cities . It is no coincidence that its introduction has been prohibited in Europe since 2007.
Crop losses
The alarm comes from the countryside of the Florentine plain, in particular from Montelupo Fiorentino, Vinci and the neighboring municipalities where the bright green parrots are causing increasingly heavy crop losses. This is reported by Coldiretti Florence who once again asks the Tuscany Region for extraordinary interventions to contain the wild fauna which devastates crops, destroys the ecosystem, impoverishes biodiversity and represents a danger to public safety and health. A request that the main agricultural organization will once again invoke in the streets with a forthcoming protest to defend the income of farmers and citizens. “The invasion of parakeets risks getting out of hand just as that of wild boars, wild dogs, wood pigeons, pigeons and other species that every year eat the fruits of our labor and kill our flocks with very serious repercussions also for biodiversity, maintenance and erosion of the territory – explains Cesare Buonamici, President of Coldiretti Florence.
The perception of citizens
Wildlife is no longer just a problem for farmers. The perception of citizens has been overturned: wild boars, which are estimated to be 250 thousand in our region, cause dozens of road accidents a year, 23 in the last year in Tuscany, and bring with them diseases such as Swine Fever which paralyzes the territories and tourist activities; wolves are knocking on doors in many places and are starting to represent a security problem, the vespa velutina is decimating the population of our bees whose work as pollinators is irreplaceable, parrots can transmit diseases such as avian flu to humans or salmonellosis as blue crabs destroy our marine ecosystem. The implications of this imbalance are many and they are all negative. The tools to intervene are there and we ask that they be applied. This is why we will return to the streets with thousands of farmers to also protect our fellow citizens."
Strongly growing numbers
The first families of monk parakeets settled in the Cascine area where they nested and reproduced and then colonized the surrounding environments. Their number is growing rapidly as are the fears of farmers who already have to deal with the unpredictable effects of climate change which reduced fruit harvests by 23% last year. “They are like grasshoppers. In a few minutes, from a few specimens they become dozens: they are a scourge. They split the woody shell and extract the almond fruit with their tongue, they detach the fruits or leave them eaten and damaged on the trees. – explains Barbara Simonetto, agricultural entrepreneur from Montelupo and president of the Coldiretti section – They have been present in this area for at least a couple of seasons. There were few, today there are dozens. Last year they attacked fruit trees, this year they started with almond trees. We are all very worried around here. The countryside is becoming food dispensers for wild animals and aliens." Mauro Baglioni, a Florentine agricultural entrepreneur who grows arable crops in the valley between Soffiano and Porta Romana, was unable to harvest two hectares of sunflowers last year. “They completely devoured them. – says Baglioni – They have now become endemic in the Florence plain. They eat everything they find. Boars, roe deer, parrots, wood pigeons, crows are driving us to exasperation. And every year it gets worse and worse. Without interventions, agriculture is destined to disappear even in the plains" (source: Coldiretti).
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