Mr Barbara Mazzali, regional councilor (Brothers of Italy) of the Lombardia, has given social media a long outburst regarding the containment of nutria: “Dear friends, I'm tired of receiving phone calls and emails informing me that the mayors are not doing their duty to contain the otters. I thank my contacts in the area for the careful reports, which push me to give a hard but necessary clarification.
Let's go over together the points of the law “Amendments to the regional law 7 October 2002, n. 20 'Containment and eradication of nutria (Myocastor Coypus)' ”, which I wrote and brought to the Council myself. It was approved in February and IT IS ALREADY OPERATIONAL.
I emphasize that if the provinces do not proceed in this sense, they will incur the commissioner.
Here are the articles:
The municipalities: a) are competent to manage problems relating to the overpopulation of otters and use all the tools used up to now for harmful species; b) cooperate, also in associated form, in the containment and eradication plans of the coypu prepared by the provinces and the metropolitan city and must comply with the guidelines indicated by the Region; c) they can enter into agreements with hunting associations, territorial hunting areas and alpine areas to support containment and eradication activities; d) authorize, after consultation with the competent health authority, the burial of the carcasses
The Provinces and the Metropolitan City: a) implement the guidelines and operational prescriptions envisaged by the Regional Program. They organize the collection and disposal of carcasses, also making use of the financial resources provided. If the provinces and the metropolitan city do not fulfill the obligation to implement the regional program for the containment and eradication of coypu within the peremptory deadline set by the program itself, the competent councilor assigns a term, not exceeding sixty days, to provide. After this deadline has elapsed, the regional council appoints an ad acta commissioner. The charges deriving from the activity of the ad acta commissioner are borne by the defaulting body; b) establish the provincial coordination table with prefectures, municipalities, agricultural associations, hunting associations, land reclamation consortia and other interested parties, aimed at the annual monitoring of the eradication objectives; c) in agreement with the municipalities and after consulting the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment (ARPA) and the competent Health Protection Agencies (ATS), organize collection centers for temporary storage and subsequent transfer to centers of authorized disposal
The Region prepares a three-year regional program for the containment and eradication of nutria
The carcasses of otters can be used for the uses or disposal methods provided for by the regulation, if it is not suspected that they are affected by communicable diseases;
The implementation of the control plans is considered a public utility service;
The eradication of the otters takes place according to the modalities governed by the regional program at any time of the year, throughout the region, even that prohibited from hunting, with the following selective control methods: a) common firearms; b) controlled gasification; c) controlled sterilization; d) trapping with subsequent killing;
The possible application of sterilization methods can be implemented outside the regional program
The provinces authorize the municipal and provincial police, volunteer hunting agents, security guards, hydraulic surveillance operators, irrigation and reclamation consortia operators, to the direct killing of animals, using the methods referred to in paragraph 1, persons in charge of pest control firms, hunters, owners, conductors and their spouses, relatives and relatives up to the fourth degree, assistants and qualified employees, in possession, where required by current legislation, of firearms for hunting use o for sports use and with ongoing insurance coverage.
The Region, the provinces, the hunting associations and the agricultural associations coordinate in order to guarantee specific training courses at least every six months.
The provinces adopt appropriate simplified procedures for the issue of authorizations, in particular for the owners and tenants of the funds who use the trapping method. The qualifications issued up to the entry into force of the regional law bearing “Amendments to the regional law 7 October 2002, n. 20 'Containment and eradication of coypu (Myocastor Coypus)' ”are understood to be fully in force.
The eradication of nutria in reserves and natural parks must take place in accordance with the regulations of the protected areas themselves. Withdrawals and abatements are carried out by the staff of the managing body or by persons specifically authorized by the managing body itself.
In the case of small daily quantities, identifiable in the order of a maximum of ten heads per hectare, the carcasses can be disposed of directly by the operator by burial.
If the manager of the cage or the operator carrying out the killing are interested in withdrawing the coypu for the purpose of enhancing the fur or using the meat in animal feed, they are allowed to keep the animals as a flat-rate contribution for the work. lent.
In the event of significant daily quantities or the impossibility of having land suitable for burial, the disposal of the carcasses takes place in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 4. 5 4.
The otters shot directly with a firearm killed as part of the control plans which, exceptionally, due to the habitat conditions it is not possible to recover, can be left on site.
The provinces and the metropolitan city monitor the communities or populations of coypu present in their territory and transmit the collected data to the regional council and the competent council commission by May 31 of each year.
The provinces and the metropolitan city, making use of the competent health structures, take care of carrying out, on a sample basis, veterinary checks on carcasses and live specimens, aimed at zooprophylaxis and the prevention of diseases communicable to humans.
The expenses deriving from the activities planned for the year 2022 and 2023 in 500.000,00 euros per year are provided with the resources allocated by the Region.
This, as I said, is my regional law - already approved and already active - to which all mayors must abide.
In addition to this, there are regional containment plans, which must be followed.
And, the last thing to underline, is that Italy risks ending up in infringement for failure to protect biodiversity. The EU Commission is in fact adopting legal measures against 15 states, including Italy, because they have not implemented preventive actions for the management of invasive alien species.
All this added up, it is clear that the mayors must proceed quickly and must implement all that is in their duties to protect the native fauna and flora. I wrote this long and detailed post so that all of you can have a written and precise document in hand in case some municipality does not adapt ”.
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