Plan now fully operational
Launched on 7 November last, the "Plan for the conservation and management of deer in the Stelvio Trentino National Park", approved together with the specific Regulation in November 2022 by the Provincial Council, has now become fully operational. As is known, the Plan provides for the withdrawal of 2023 180 specimens. To date, 127 animals have been killed in the Park territory: in the municipality of Rabbi the harvest was 60 animals, of the 72 expected. In Peio however, also due to the different morphological characteristics of the areas, we are just over halfway done with 67 animals taken out of the 108 expected. A resolution of the Provincial Council, which yesterday approved some specifications to the Regulation, provides that in the area close to the town of Peio the agents of the Trentino Forestry Corps will now intervene.
Imbalances to be mitigated
The objective of the Plan is to mitigate and reduce the ecological imbalances caused by the overabundance of this species, in particular the problems caused to other ungulates, such as chamois and roe deer, but also to the forestry and meadow heritage. Similar plans have long been implemented in the South Tyrolean and Lombardy sectors of the Stelvio National Park. The implementation of the Plan proceeds regularly as does the monitoring and data collection system, which will make it possible to provide an overall balance sheet with respect to the results and effects at the end of each year of activity.
The conclusion of the activities
Various entities contribute to the implementation of the intervention: the Sustainable Development and Protected Areas Service of the Province and in particular its Management Office of the Stelvio National Park for scientific care, the organizational and operational part, the Trentino Forestry Corps and specifically the Peio and Rabbi forest stations for surveillance activities, the Trentino Hunters Association, with hunters registered in the Val di Sole sections who took part in the training course developed by the Foundation's Forestry and Wildlife Environment Academy Edmund Mach for obtaining the qualification of "assistant in deer control activities". For 2023 the Plan will end by 23 December. On the basis of the projections made, the containment of the deer population and the related impacts on the ecosystem will continue in the future for a total of 5 years, until the expected result is achieved (source: Province of Trento).