Massive damage
“Cherries, figs, almonds, pomegranates, grapes, every type of fruit: in the entire metropolitan area of Bari and in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, the monk parakeet, also known as the green parrot, devours everything and continues to cause extensive damage to crops, without the problem being addressed with effective, structural measures, provisions, and actions. Farmers are exhausted, something must be done.” Giuseppe De Noia, president of Cia-Agricoltori Italiani Levante Bari-Bat, returns to an issue that the farmers' union has already raised several times in the recent past.
No compensation
We ask the institutions and organizations responsible for monitoring and combating this dramatic phenomenon what actions have been taken to date and whether there is a program of interventions to prevent further damage to crops. Farmers are especially in crisis, unable to receive even a single euro in compensation for the damage suffered. Bureaucracy, with the lengthy public administration procedures, does not help; in fact, it often complicates matters. In other European countries, the problem, addressed early with the adoption of a containment plan and interventions on nests, has been somewhat contained, reaching a point of equilibrium in the management of the species, so much so that where this has occurred, further eradication interventions are not even necessary.
Wild boar management
Of concern, however, are not only the consequences of the parakeets' voracious appetite, but also the destructive power of wild boars. Cia Levante reports that the situation, especially in the areas of the Alta Murgia National Park, is increasingly worrying. "The regulations for wild boar population control in the Alta Murgia National Park are dormant," explains De Noia, "as is the training of the personnel responsible for monitoring, selecting, controlling, and managing animal numbers. Furthermore, there are selectors already trained by the Puglia Region, people who, with a little training, could be operational in the Alta Murgia Park area as well. A project should be launched immediately to create a supply chain based on the use of wild boar meat for food, already widely implemented in other areas of the country and creating added value for the local economy." In addition to the destruction of crops, wild boars pose a risk to road safety, as these animals, in packs or individually, also roam the main roads. Not to mention the public health problem posed by African swine fever.
CIA requests
We strongly urge that the plan for the containment of parrots and wild boars be implemented immediately. They have become a veritable plague in the Bari metropolitan area and the Bari province. The inaction of the Alta Murgia Park over the wild boar problem and the lengthy study of the European monk parakeet only exacerbate the already dramatic situation that we, as CIA, have been denouncing for years. (Source: CIA)
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