One goal: to change pace, “to give oneself a method - underlines the councilor for agriculture Marco Remaschi - in an open discussion which favors solutions that are hopefully shared, but which will lead to concrete acts in the next ten months, from now to the end of the legislature ”. And two facts above all, which cannot be ignored: the first demographic, with the decline and aging of hunters, and the second agronomic, with the woods that have gained space against abandoned and uncultivated fields. At the Madonnino Fair Center in Grosseto, showcase during the year of the agricultural products of the territory, the regional conference on hunting began this morning and will continue until tomorrow, ten years after that of Arezzo.
At that time the management of the hunting activity was provincial 'traction': today, after 2015, the proxies have returned from the Province to the Region, which in these three years has had to put order among provincial regulations that are very different from each other. “It is an opportunity to take stock of the work done but above all to look ahead - summarizes the commissioner -. We must confront ourselves more and find shared solutions, with a sense of responsibility and patience. And in this process we must also take into account those who think differently ”. There are no environmental associations in Grosseto: they have deserted the appointment. "But there will be future moments of confrontation" adds the commissioner, who keeps the door open, ready to sit around a table with those in different positions.
The ungulates
The trade associations and hunters try to propose the points with which to fill the agenda for the coming months. There is a regional wildlife plan to be adopted. There remains the problem of supernumerary ungulates: Tuscany has more than all other regions, at least 420, 30 per cent of wild boars from all over Italy, 40 and 45 per cent of roe and fallow deer; and often damage the cultivated fields. A management method must be found that passes from emergency to ordinary. “Farmers also ask us for it, with whom the hunting world must re-establish a closer relationship” remaschi remembers.
The sedentary game that no longer exists
But there is not only hunting for ungulates. There is that of small sedentary and migratory fauna. The first, once traditional and widespread - the one mostly with hare and pheasant -, has now almost disappeared. And the associations are asking about this new attention: which means a renewed commitment, for example, on the repopulation and capture areas, on the animals that prey on that game where in excess, on the organization of the hunting guards and the provincial police. supervise. All very concrete themes. Hunting is not a destructive element, hunters respond to criticism from environmentalists: healthy and regulated hunting helps to restore balance and therefore is useful for the environment and for land management. Of course, if rules are set, they must then be respected.
More certainties, even from the Government
During the morning and in the afternoon, many themes follow one another in the large round room of the Madonnino. There is mention of the new hunting calendar, unique for the whole Region. There is talk of the electronic hunting card: Tuscany has led the way, even if it is not yet widespread. We also focus on the trade in hunted meat, which is different from self-consumption, trying to dispel fallacious clichés. The associations ask for legislative certainties: some even changes to a national law, which has essentially been the same for twenty-seven years. And the Region also asks for certainties: "the divisions within the government, with ministries that often think in the opposite way, do not help," said Remaschi. There is also mention of the hunted wild boar used for wildlife control, therefore outside the ninety days of hunting, authorized by a rule on which the TAR has ordered the suspension pending a comment on the matter probably in mid-September. " of an extension of the period of the hunting activity - the commissioner tries to clarify - but only of a containment action in well-identified cases where perhaps suitable territories suffer damage to the vineyards, which are the driving force of our agriculture. We need flexibility and more autonomy for the Region ”.
The numbers not to be forgotten
But the agenda cannot fail to take into account two data recalled in the morning, during the first reports.
The first is demographic, in fact. In twenty-three years, from 1995 to 2018, Tuscan hunters have halved - from over 145 to just under 72 - and the average age has increased. There are a little more in the peripheral areas, less in the metropolitan areas, and it has been a constant trend, with almost a third of Tuscan double-shots (30%) now counting between 60 and 70 years, even more (the 32%) over seventy and just 7 per cent aged 18 to 39. Numbers that in perspective draw a possible further halving of Tuscan hunters, one sixth of those in all of Italy, by 2030, when they will be just 35 thousand. The second data concerns the use of the territory: the wooded areas have grown. They went from 983 thousand hectares to 1 million and 209 thousand from 1985 to 2013, 23 percent more, thanks to agricultural specialization (vineyards and olives) and the abandonment of small promiscuous farms. The result is that ungulates have increased. Two figures, numerical, which cannot be ignored in the coming months. With the dwindling of hunters, revenues have also decreased and the management of hunting areas has become more complicated in recent years. But in this case the most complicated period is already behind us. “We have reorganized the system and the ATCs. In recent months we have also found a way to march all together, united - Remaschi remembers -. And now we can look forward to the next ten months, where new great challenges await us ”.