The attempts of theVAS anti-hunting association to extend the hunting ban along the coast of the entire Puglia region, for a strip of 500 meters inside the mainland. In recent days, in response to the umpteenth unjustified request of the SEA, Federcaccia Puglia and the Hunting Avifauna Office again contacted all the competent national and regional institutions to clarify the absolute groundlessness of the same.
Below is the text: With regard to the letter in question, which re-proposes the intimidating tone completely out of place of the previous request, it should be noted that it again contains obvious errors, omissions and falsehoods, which make evident the inconsistency of the repeated proposal to create an oasis for the protection of fauna along the coast of the entire Puglia region, for a strip of 500 meters inside the mainland. The proposal is still totally unfounded on the legal, biological, technical and juridical level for the following reasons:
1. On the legal plan it is noted that the VAS association accepts what was reported by the undersigned Office in the previous letter, that is, that the argument on the need to establish protection zones along the migration routes is wrong. The new argument of the VAS association today concerns the percentage of protected territory in the region, but even this does not understand the meaning, since the Regional Hunting Wildlife Plan is being drafted and discussed, therefore the percentages of protected territory must be reached. Given the complexity and richness in biodiversity of the Apulian territory, it is not possible to understand according to which reasoning the only oasis needed would be that along the marine coast.
2. On the biological plan the statements of the VAS association are not supported by any scientific data but are classified as speculations not based on factual data. That hunting on the sea defeats the functions of the Apulian protected wetlands is a fantasy that clashes with the data on the presence of aquatic avifauna in these areas (e.g. 376.494 water birds surveyed in January 2008, or 11 wetlands in Puglia that are classified as important nationally or internationally for the density of water birds - ISPRA data -, or more than 10.000 wigeons wintering in Margherita diSavoia or 4000 volpoche - ISPRA data). Likewise the rash claim that "The disturbance along the Apulian coasts is undeniable" is denied by the fact that most of the Apulian protected areas are located near the coast and are home to thousands and thousands of water birds. weekdays, no disturbances from 31 January to 1 October) and limited to no more than 200 meters from the firing point.
3. On the legal and technical level the argument of the presence of the Apulian coasts in the anti-poaching plan has no meaning with respect to the request to exclude even the marine coast of an entire region from hunting. The anti-poaching plan indicates the need to intervene with appropriate checks (such as performed a few weeks ago in the Po Delta), and not precluding hunting entire areas where honest hunters have the opportunity to hunt waterfowl, most of which have favorable demographic trends in Italy and in Europe. After all, it is not clear how the ban on hunting can stop poaching, which in itself is an illegal activity, there are indeed examples, precisely in Puglia, of poaching acts carried out within protected areas.