Regional Council in turmoil
The Regional Council of Veneto concluded today's work by approving with 33 votes in favour, 4 against and 2 abstentions the bill no. 294 to amend regional law no. 50/1993 "Rules for the protection of wild fauna and for hunting", the speaker of the chamber was the president of the Third permanent commission of the legislative assembly and first signatory of the proposal, Marco Andreoli (Lega-LV), co-rapporteur Renzo Masolo (Europa Verde). The broad amendment maneuver presented by the minorities and illustrated in particular by councilor Zanoni (Pd), as well as by councilors Masolo (EV), Lorenzoni (Spokesperson for the minority) was rejected, not without moments of tension in the chamber. An Order of the day presented by councilor Alberto Bozza (FI) was also approved.
The changes in detail
As also recalled at the beginning of the debate by the rapporteur, the approved amendments concern in particular the setting up of temporary hunting hides, in the more complex framework of hunting activity from hides, both fixed and temporary, governed by the amended regional law and by state law no. 157/1992. With reference, therefore, to temporary hides (those that can be set up one month before the start of hunting activity and that must be removed within one month of the end of the season), the amendments allow the location of the site also with georeferenced coordinates, as an alternative to the 1:25000 scale map, or to the regional technical map - also taking into account the need to communicate the setting up to the competent municipality for the territory - and to deposit photographic documentation suitable for certifying the state of the places before and after the works to create the hide. Article 20 quinquies is also inserted into the amended regional law, which, in turn, inserts an Annex that provides for the list of site modifications functional to the setting up of the hide for the exercise of hunting activity that do not involve forms of permanent alteration of the state of the places, or functional and permanent modifications of an area that contradict or alter in irreversible ways and measures the vocation of the area itself and accompanying this provision with a specific administrative sanction for non-compliant behavior. Article 3, added by the Commission, inserts paragraph 9 bis into article 20 of regional law no. 50/1993 (again on the subject of hides) which introduces a specific authorization regime in favor of wildlife hunting companies. Subsequently, councilors Giuseppe Pan (Lega-LV), Joe Formaggio and Tommaso Razzolini (Fratelli d'Italia) and Stefano Valdegamberi (Mixed Group) also spoke in support of the legislative proposal.
The big voice
The co-rapporteur Masolo, during his speech, underlined how the text entered the chamber “Armored and tailor-made, urged by the hunting world that knows how to raise its voice and asks, obtaining them, meetings with majority councilors outside the Third Commission, an action that is legitimate, but questionable, in particular if the hearing phase, even requested, of the associations for the protection of the environment has not taken place in the same Commission; furthermore, the opinion of the CAL is missing, despite the local autonomies being directly interested in the issue”. During the correlation, the group leader of Europa Verde Masolo also stigmatized “The presence of obstacles that are placed by the hunting world to the full application of the Code of Ethics, introduced in 2022 by article 35 ter of regional law no. 50/93, aimed at promoting forms of self-discipline in hunting activities according to the principles of environmental sustainability, respect for wildlife and safety in the use of weapons, which contribute to promoting hunting as an activity compatible with the conservation of wildlife and agricultural production”.
: Subsequently, the regional councilor of the Democratic Party Andrea Zanoni (Democratic Party) brought to the attention of the chamber not only some critical observations regarding the content of the law, but also the so-called preliminary question pursuant to art. 97 of the Council Regulation, according to which a given topic cannot be discussed because the regulatory requirements are missing, or there was imprecision in the formulation of the object, or formal and procedural prerequisites are missing: among the reasons expressed by councilor Zanoni, in addition to the failure to implement the hearing phase and the failure to acquire the opinion of the CAL, also the violation of the division of competences between the state and the region in landscape and building matters relating to the permanent alteration of the state of the places; the request of the Democratic councilor was shared by the group leader of the Democratic Party Vanessa Camani, but rejected by the rapporteur of the law and by the chamber with 36 votes against and 10 in favor.
Wildlife management is problematic
According to the Pd councilor Jonatan Montanariello "It would be short-sighted to say that there is no problem of management of fauna, in particular the so-called invasive or aggressive one, or of biodiversity or of the relationship between urban settlement and the environment: the ideological approach to these issues has served more often to defend a perimeter of consensus, and not so much to seek an adequate solution to the various problems. The question is: is the instrument regulated by the proposed amendment correct? Is it correct from a legal point of view?". On the same topic, with similar observations, also intervened the councilors Roberto Bet (Lega-LV) and Alberto Bozza (Forza Italia) who, with different accents, essentially highlighted in their speeches "The figure of the hunter in the particular role of bio-regulator who controls and responsibly manages the territory in which he operates; this proposed law regulates the institution of stakeouts, but not only that, and in general it regulates in a pragmatic and precise manner by providing operational tools to hunters, beyond ideological divisions", while councilor Nazareno Gerolimetto (Lega-LV) focused on the role of hunters in wildlife control activities (source: Veneto Region).