DROUGHT: ATC appeal to hunters and farmers to implement all possible actions to limit the damage to the valuable cultures of the territory: targeted killing and correct maintenance of fences in the first place.
The grip of the heat and the absence of precipitation give no respite and if you suffer from the heat in the city, the countryside is no better. The lack of water in sources and streams and the scarcity of food in the woods induce ungulates to seek their livelihood in cultivated areas. Particularly in the vineyards, since grapes are often the only source of water supply for game. "The damage situation is undoubtedly serious - comments Piero Certosi, the President of the Management Committee of the Territorial Area of Florence-Prato Hunting - and given that no substantial changes are looming on the horizon, in the month of August it can only get worse, unless all possible forms of prevention are implemented. For this reason, with the aim of stemming the damage to crops, which in the ATC territory are mostly of value, we make a double appeal. The first in the hunting world, so that it gives the widest availability for control interventions and collection of roe deer and wild boar in the areas close to the vineyards, in particular from next August until the end of the grape harvest. The goal is to remove the game from the cultivated areas, so as not to make it become sedentary. Another contribution that hunters can make is with the selection of wild boar hunting in unsuitable areas ".
Just to give a few figures, from 21 June to 27 July this type of intervention made it possible to shoot down 350 animals in the territory of the ATC Firenze-Prato, while from 1 March the hunting guards carried out 314 killing, even in wildlife farms; 560 roe deer were then killed.
“The second appeal - continues Certosi - goes to the agricultural world. We ask the farmers of our territory to carry out the maintenance of the electrified fences with care and to keep them active and in full efficiency. We also invite you to promptly report the presence of ungulates near the crops to the ATC, so that we can identify together the possible solutions for targeted killing interventions ".
From the ATC it is then noted that the presence of groups of wolves throughout the territory also helps to push the game towards the cultivated areas.
In short, a painting with dark colors but in front of which there are possible answers to be activated.
The priority of the ATC is in fact always and in any case the correct management of the territory, with particular attention to agricultural production, with a view not to compensation for damage but to the prevention and protection of valuable products.
“The spring prevention activity - concludes Certosi - had started well, with the use of repellents the results had been more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, this climatic situation that closely reminds us of the hot summer of 2003 could make everything more complicated. After all, agriculture, environment and territory are our priorities and the over 450.000 euros invested in prevention and environmental improvements testify to this. The ATC also paid another 2014 euros in 450.000 for compensation for damage caused by game to crops. This is the path we have taken and which we will continue to follow in the interest of all our interlocutors ”.
(Florence 29 July 2015)