In 2021, the Emilia Romagna region, through the General Directorate for Hunting and Fishing, paid out as compensation for the wildlife damage a total amount of € 192.089 for the Province of Forlì Cesena alone. “Our territory, in terms of compensation for damage caused by wildlife, is first in Romagna and second in the Region (the Province of Bologna is at the top of the ranking). In recent years, thanks to the insufficiency and ineffectiveness of regional policies, the overall expenditure incurred by the General Hunting and Fishing Service of Emilia Romagna to compensate for the losses suffered by citizens, breeders and farmers of the Province of Forlì Cesena has increased considerably.
In 2018 it was € 150.021, € 2019 in 168.599 and € 2020 in 179.103. This is a real emergency that reverberates on crops, farms and the growing number of road accidents. " The regional councilor Massimiliano Pompignoli thus comments on the data provided to him by the competent Department, divided by Province and year. “These numbers” - adds Pompignoli - “outline us a critical situation, likely to worsen. Estimates are growing, but despite this in Emilia Romagna there is a total absence of adequate countermeasures to counter the phenomenon.
The uncontrolled explosion of ungulates combined with the ineffectiveness of the prevention and containment policies implemented by this council, risk bring the whole agricultural sector to its knees, causing serious damage to the economy and ecosystem of the whole Region ". The regional councilor, a few weeks after the discussion of the new hunting calendar, therefore urges "more detailed and effective control plans, greater room for maneuver for hunters as well as more adequate and territory-friendly prevention tools.
It is also necessary to reflect more critically on the method of self-defense on the part of the owner of the fund. It is essential to restore a virtuous collaboration between the hunting world and the agricultural sector, recognizing the precious and decisive role of hunters and the effectiveness of traditional forms of collection. " (Romagna League).