Wolves descend into the hills and lowland areas with a tripled presence in the past three years. An increasingly critical situation from the point of view of security and unsustainable for the companies that, with courage, continue to do so garrison the disadvantaged territories avoiding its depopulation and abandonment. Above all, the Val Borbera in the Novese area, the territory of the Ovada area and the Val Curone in the Tortona area return to launch the alarm cry. Coldiretti expresses satisfaction with the outcome of the hearing requested in recent days and promptly obtained at the V Commission of the Piedmontese Regional Council during which “we asked the Region to go back to being the direct protagonist of the management of the wolf - explains the President Coldiretti Alexandria Mauro Bianco - implementing prevention and mitigation measures but also timely containment actions of wolves and hybrids to allow shepherds and breeders to carry out the productive activity insecurity.
On the compensation front, moreover, in 2021 there will be direct compensation from the Region; in this regard, we asked for a simple and streamlined process for quick claims and compensation in the event of direct and indirect damage, even in hilly areas ". The presence of the wolf is putting at risk especially the livestock farms for meat who are already facing the difficulties related to the pandemic with the Ho.Re.Ca channel closed and speculations along the supply chains. Without forgetting that not only the safety of herds and flocks is at stake but also the protection of the safety of those who live in mountainous and hilly areas, with the multiplication of sightings and predations at low altitudes. “After the repeated attacks of wild boars and the damage caused by roe deer, wolves also threaten the farms in inland areas - says Roberto Rampazzo, Director of Coldiretti Alessandria -.
The situation is becoming increasingly critical, so much so as to threaten the very survival of the companies and, with it, the maintenance of the territory, with the consequent risks from an economic and environmental point of view. When it comes to balance it is right to point out that the wild boar turned out to be the main prey of the wolf and when wild prey are available it tends to prefer them to livestock but the fact remains that for Coldiretti the situation becomes increasingly worrying due to the fact that wolves, like wild boars, go as far as inhabited centers: this represents a serious problem of safety of people, as well as of the flocks ". To stem the situation Coldiretti once again calling for an effective wildlife control policy while granting rapid compensation to the breeder and farmers who have suffered damage.
“There is a lot of talk about relaunching disadvantaged areas and helping those looking for to make the most marginalized areas grow - Bianco and Rampazzo conclude - but all these elements are causing a climate of serious mistrust among farmers who feel deeply penalized and conditioned by environmentalism and animalism which, instead of guaranteeing the preservation of the "wolf species", tend to making it unsustainable to coexist with those who oversee and protect the territory through enormous efforts, with costs well above the benefits ". According to Coldiretti, the possible solutions to be used jointly are to provide for measures that allow the specimens to be surveyed more and more carefully in order to locate the habitats and populations, restoring a sustainable presence for the territory and agricultural activities (L'Ancora weekly magazine).