Great success for the 2012 Hunting Festival in Valle d'Aosta where politics took sides in defense of hunting.
For the President of the Valle d'Asta Region, Augusto Rollandin, and the Councilor for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Giuseppe Isabellon, who spoke at the Hunting Festival 2012 held last weekend in Pollein, they take sides in favor of hunting and initiatives for a correct dissemination of hunting culture even among the youngest.
Despite the many poelms of the usual environmentalists, last weekend the 2012 Hunting Festival was successfully held in Pollein, in a special tensile structure built at the city carport, with exhibitions of hunting trophies, taxidermy, equipment and accessories for hunting ; in fact, about 1500 hunting enthusiasts from Valle d'Aosta participated in the event, who regularly organize this event every two years.
To support the hunters there were the political authorities, first of all the President of the Valle d'Asta Region, Augusto Rollandin, and the Councilor for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Giuseppe Isabellon, who intervened in a debate on the training of hunters.
According to President Rollandin, “Children often come home from school filled with misconceptions and negative ideas about hunting. It is up to the regional administration to take action to explain to the children why this activity exists and has always existed ”.
Continuing on, Rollandin said, “Just say that those in favor of hunting are against nature. It is the exact opposite. It is thanks to hunters, for example, that we preserve the fauna balance, and we defend ourselves from diseases such as keratoconjunctivitis, which kills many ibex and chamois ".
In addition, the President wanted to reply to the controversy that arose around the expenditure incurred by the Region for the organization of the Festival, equal to fifty thousand euros, "Beyond the sterile criticisms, I do not understand why to deny hunters the possibility of organizing an event that on the contrary of others it does not damage the image of the Valley. I find that this was money well spent ”. In the same way the commissioner Isabellon thinks that he affirmed, "Whoever criticizes without knowing is on the wrong side".
During the event, the balance of the selection hunt was made, introduced for ten years now, aimed at controlling the fauna, especially ungulate, by planning the killing of the animals according to age and sex in order to keep the density of the wild population stable. ; precisely to meet these needs, the need arises to expand the training of hunters with courses dedicated to the various health, biological and environmental aspects related to hunting and the establishment, by the Region, of CERF, the Regional Center for wildlife education.
A new phenomenon linked to the hunting world highlighted during the 2012 Hunting Festival is the increasingly widespread passion for hunting trophies such as stages of chamois, deer and roe deer hunted by hunters from all over the Region and exhibited inside the fair.
At the Festa della Caccia, taxidermy could not be missing with the display of numerous specimens of embalmed wildlife; right at the entrance to the fair, the symbol of the Valle d'Aosta fauna was positioned to welcome visitors, a splendid example of stuffed ibex and entering the exhibition also other species such as roe deer, deer, fallow deer, wild birds, squirrels and other species not really local like Canadian wolves and even a bear.
Numerous stands dedicated to weapons, equipment, accessories, clothing and everything related to the world of hunting as well as a food and wine space with products and dishes based on game organized, in collaboration with the Valle d'Aosta Chefs Union .