The declarations of the Italian Bird Protection League
Unfortunately, FIdC is once again forced to deny the allegations of the LIPU extension towards the work of the Italian Regions called annually to establish hunting regulations in the context of the increasingly complicated wildlife-hunting matter. It is worth reiterating that this matter, still today, is regulated by Law no. 157/92 and not from the opinions expressed by the Higher Institute for Environmental Research and Protection (ISPRA) even if LIPU, like other environmentalist acronyms, increasingly seems to forget this. LIPU even cites 5 violations of Directive 147/2009/EC, with unlikely references to the articles of the same, which demonstrate the prejudice according to which hunting is in itself a catastrophic factor for the conservation of birds.
The clarifications
Going by order, the first community violation concerning the 20 species that LIPU defines as being in a poor state of conservation and in the absence of adequate management plans: in four cases (lark, rock partridge, wild dove and pochard) the management plans, approved by State-Regions Conference, were gradually implemented, foreseeing from their application a quota, in some cases exceeding 50%, on the number of animals that can be collected in each individual Italian region. LIPU seems to forget that the world of hunters today is the main protagonist of the primary objective of the management plans, i.e. the realization of environmental improvements, through private initiatives and through ATC funds, therefore with hunters' money.
Meaningless quotes
The citation of the articles of the directive is curious (perhaps accidental?) among which Article 2 stands out, which establishes that Member States must maintain and adapt (not protect) populations of wild birds based on ecological, scientific and cultural needs, whilst taking into account economic and recreational ones. Therefore the cultures of the people (including hunting) are a factor to be taken into consideration in the choices of Member States on the management of birds. Even more disconcerting is the citation of Article 3 paragraph 1 which concerns precisely the maintenance and reconstitution of habitats for birds, as mentioned above, an activity in which hunters, and certainly not LIPU, are engaging at their own expense ( source: Federcaccia).