-2 to the event
Address seriously, once and for all, and with a precise multi-year action plan, the problem of environmental imbalances and the damage caused by wildlife proliferate out of control. It is one of the points of the protest and proposal platform which, on Thursday 26 October, will be at the center of the large national demonstration organized by Cia-Italian Farmers in Rome. At the meeting in Piazza Santi Apostoli, starting from 9.30 am, there will also be farmers from Puglia. They will arrive with buses organized from Bari and Bat, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto.
Situation out of control
“It is necessary to restore a situation of environmental balance that has no longer existed for many years - declares Gennaro Sicolo, president of Cia Puglia and national vice-president of Cia-Italian farmers -. Starlings, green parrots, wolves, wild boars: various wildlife species have grown enormously in number. Wild boars, above all, destroy everything in their path. They are voracious, they devour entire fields of legumes, ruin wheat fields, and attack orchards. The problem is huge. There are many wild species that have altered the pre-existing equilibrium situation. Solving the problem is not simple, but we need to start tackling it seriously, with determination, because the damage is truly enormous and, in the case of wild boars, we are also paying a very high price in terms of human lives, due to the car accidents caused by these out-of-control animals crossing even busy roads."
The problem of wild boars
In the last year, the number of wild boars in Puglia has tripled. As a result, incidents of crop damage have increased, not to mention the dangers to people and the risk of spreading swine fever. It is urgent to obtain from the Government the modification of law 157 of 1992. We need a national regulatory framework that takes into account the current dimensions of the wild boar phenomenon, with a number of specimens capable of multiplying exponentially every year. One solution could be the so-called "selecontrol", in addition obviously to primary hunting. Management lines for monitoring must be identified. In some areas of Puglia, the presence of the wolf has also become difficult to sustain, especially for farmers. The attacks have intensified in recent years. The damage caused by attacks by wolves, ungulates but also starlings can bring a company to its knees. We need certain rules, compensation for damages which must be adequate and immediate.
To Rome to obtain immediate action
“In Rome there will be farmers from all over Puglia - announces Sicolo -. We want to get immediate action. Agricultural companies, livestock enterprises, agritourisms, every single sector of the primary sector has worked hard in recent years, has continued to guarantee essential production for the whole country even in the most dramatic months of the pandemic, has sacrificed itself in the face of the imbalances created by the war in Ukraine has gone into debt to deal with production costs and the consequences of climate change. We are sure that we have the right to finally be heard, farmers deserve to be supported by a policy that must once again pay attention to the needs and dignity of our agricultural companies", concluded Sicolo (source: CIA).