The Ligurian case
"Considering the situation of extreme emergency due to damage and road accidents caused by wildlife - explained Gianluca Boeri, President of Coldiretti Liguria, and Bruno Rivarossa, Confederal Delegate - le proposals to abolish hunting advanced for contingent and instrumental political interests are completely out of place. In fact, they go against the reality of the facts and damage the country, the protection of citizens and the agricultural economy, already severely tested by high prices, drought, sudden episodes of bad weather and the contingent situation ". Therefore, reducing the number of wild boar species means slow down the spread of ASF in those areas where the presence of agro-industrial chains is greater linked to pig farms, which guarantee income, employment and induced activities for Italy. But not only that: also in the countryside and in the hinterland of ours Liguria, already widely harassed by this type of problem linked to the exponential proliferation of ungulates and the consequent damage that their passage causes to our agricultural workers.
The hunting season in Liguria
It should not be forgotten that, during the next hunting season, in the Ligurian areas not subject to restrictions for swine fever, the PRIU - approved by the council of the Liguria Region and sent to the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (Ispra) and to the National Swine Pest Reference Center (Cerep) for the relevant opinions - provides the possibility of culling up to 35.451 wild boars. A figure equal to 180% of what has been done in the last year. “An important provision - continue Boeri and Rivarossa - for Ligurian agriculture and breeding and for all entrepreneurs who, for too long now, have seen their work destroyed by ungulates. Work endangered for both material damage to fields and structures that, over the last year, due to swine fever, which has also forced many to kill healthy animals ".
The need for major depopulation
The growth of the huntable contingent responds to precise indications of the Ministries of Health and Agricultural Policies for the containment of African swine fever. Indications that, in turn, would lead to an 80% reduction in the wild boar population between hunting and control sampling. A goal, the one set for the 2022/2023, rather ambitious and essentially aimed at depopulating the free areas of Liguria through both hunting and wildlife control actions. How Coldiretti Liguria we hope that these numbers are respected, contrary to what happened in the past.