Hunting: Pistoia, the Provincial Council approved the new Wildlife Hunting Plan; news on the management of ungulates, faunal institutes and the Fucecchio Marshes.
The Provincial Wildlife Hunting Plan was approved by a majority during the session of the Provincial Council yesterday, Thursday 20 June. The process that led to the drafting of the Plan began in October 2012 with the approval of the preliminary document, sent to the local authorities concerned for an initial phase of observations. The document adopted by the Council is made up of a series of acts: the Plan Proposal, which indicates the management strategies linked to the wildlife hunting context of the Pistoia area; the Environmental Report, which links the Plan Proposal with the provincial environment and with the other existing provincial and regional plans; the non-technical summary of the environmental report and the impact assessment, which analyzes the impact of the Plan on the sites belonging to the Natura 2000 network. The Plan moves within the framework of the PRAF - Regional Agricultural Forestry Plan, approved in 2012, with the Regional Wildlife Hunting Plan within, which dictates management guidelines for Bodies, in addition to the legislative and regulatory changes initiated by the Tuscany Region since 2009, especially in the ungulates sector and the control of species harmful to the agricultural and forestry sector.
The Plan, illustrated in the Council by the Councilor for the Environment, Protected Areas and Hunting of the Province of Pistoia, Rino Fragai, presents some main innovations:
- the redefinition of the area dedicated to ungulates (i.e. the area where the presence is tolerable at certain densities) and of the non-suitable area (where it is necessary to aim at their eradication): compared to the previous Wildlife Hunting Plan, the area dedicated to wild boar has significantly decreased. All those agricultural areas of plains and hills that were previously part of the hunting districts have been inserted in the non-suitable area, with the aim of a management aimed at the strong containment of ungulates;
- the increase of the hunting area (it goes from 20,3% of the last PFV to 21%) and, within it, the increase of institutions that provide for shared management between the Province, ATC, agricultural, hunting, environmental or cultural associations (Restocking and Capture Areas and Protection Oases);
- a different regulation for hunting in the Fucecchio Marshes, designed at different levels of protection, reconfirming in an organic framework the recent measures already approved by the Provincial Council in the direction of management uniformity with the surrounding homogeneous territories.
From the date of publication in the BURT, there will be about 60 days to submit comments to the text, which will then be examined by the Provincial Administration, before reaching the definitive approval of the Plan (between October and November of this 'year). Soon the document will be on view on the website of the Province of Pistoia, both in the hunting and fishing section and in the section of the guarantor of communication and meetings will be organized on the territory for presentation to the public.
23 June 2013
Province of Pistoia