Peter Franco, Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Hunting of the Municipality of Villa Castelli (in the province of Brindisi) presented a resolution asking the Puglia region to intervene as soon as possible to prevent i damage caused to agricultural crops authorizing the hunting levy in derogation of transfers. The City Council approved the document after carefully analyzing the reasons highlighted by Franco himself.
In particular, the Brindisi town and its territories have had to deal with for years now the invasion of millions of starlings, a phenomenon that also affects neighboring municipalities. The birds cause enormous damage to the agricultural sector, to say the least, with the production of fruit and vegetables and olives which are among the most penalized ever. The quality of the crops is inevitably compromised and one can imagine the inconveniences experienced by local farmers from an economic point of view.
As underlined by the resolution, however, during the approval of the hunting calendar 2016-2017 the Puglia Region has not included the starling among the huntable species and therefore the need arose to fill the gap and solve the problem. The Municipal Council has also taken note that this proposal does not involve any expenditure commitment.