A concept that doesn't know how to make headway
La World Wetlands Day this year it intends to focus on the human well-being that these areas induce, a concept that unfortunately still struggles to make headway in institutions, especially Italian ones. The Ramsar Convention, the main international agreement for the conservation of wetlands, and within which the Day is celebrated, enhances these environments and requires the signatory States to protect these areas and their conservation over time, in particular as habitat for waterfowl. Although Italy has designated 57 Ramsar sites, it is clear that on a general level many wetlands are still disappearing today and several of these are not managed correctly as prescribed by the Ramsar Convention.
The importance of article 4
For clarity, we report paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 4, on which some reflections then follow:
2. A Contracting Party which, for urgent reasons of national interest, withdraws or restricts a wetland included in the List should compensate as far as possible for any loss of wetland resources and, in particular, create new nature reserves for aquatic and marsh birds and for the protection, in the same region or elsewhere, of a convenient portion of the former habitat.
The Contracting Parties shall endeavor, through their management, to increase populations of aquatic and marsh birds in appropriate wetlands.
It is therefore clear that the Italian authorities should restore the destroyed wetlands with new ones in the same regions or elsewhere, and manage these areas to increase the populations of aquatic birds. We can state that the restoration of wetlands destroyed or degraded over the years does not appear to be a priority for the Italian authorities, and for many Ramsar sites the management is not correctly aimed at increasing aquatic birds.
The emblematic cases
On the contrary, it is clear and demonstrable, with data in hand, that this commitment was carried out by the hunting community. In fact, from the wildlife hunting companies of the upper Adriatic and the internal regions of northern Italy, to the hunting lakes present in many Italian regions, only the category of hunters has increased, almost always at their own expense, the existing wetland areas and manages them for the increase of populations. Furthermore, it is no coincidence that in the Venice Lagoon alone more than 700.000 aquatic birds winter, of which more than half are found in the valley's wildlife hunting companies and their number is growing over the years. It is also no coincidence that in the internal plains of many Italian regions, hunters have increased the number of aquatic birds resting and nesting in urbanized or intensively cultivated areas, through the creation of hunting lakes or by maintaining existing habitats.
Sustainable hunting harvest
An indisputable data certified in a scientific work shows that hunters manage a minimum of 25.000 hectares of wetlands, with important results in autumn-winter presences and nesting. With sustainable hunting carried out for just 4 months of the year, hunters make an irreplaceable contribution at their own expense to the conservation of waterfowl, with scientific data confirming this. Federcaccia hopes that the authorities and public administrations will implement this concept, encouraging hunters in the creation and management of wetlands, in which the hunting interest, which no one denies, allows at the same time sustainable use and correct management as well as conservation over time of a precious asset that all of society can enjoy (source: FIDC).
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