The causes of a decline
Saturday 27 May Federcaccia Lombardia organized a conference at the "Cremona Palace Hotel", for the presentation of the results of the "Hare Project". It is a study born from the need to identify the causes of the decline in the number of hare populations in Lombardy and aimed at identifying new management strategies for the species and the environment in which it lives. The regional president of Federcaccia Lombardia, the lawyer Lorenzo Bertacchi, opened the works by thanking all those who contributed to the realization of this project: first of all the technicians of Studio Geco and his staff, who made the realization of this research possible , Dr. Antonella Labate, coordinator of the project and consultant of Federcaccia Lombardia, ISPRA for scientific supervision, the DG Agriculture and Welfare of the Lombardy Region who recognized the value of the initiative by collaborating and supporting the project and finally the Territorial Areas of fighters, who made their ZRCs available and all the volunteers who rolled up their sleeves to ensure the success of the research activities in the field.
Hunting wildlife management
The "Hare Project" and the resulting "Manual of good practices for the management of hare hunting in the lowland area" have the aim of offering all hunters a new management vision and above all a simple and practical tool for the choice of strategies to put in place to manage an important wildlife heritage such as that represented by the hare and to provide useful support to the Management Committees, which every year encounter more and more problems in procuring hares for restocking interventions. Federcaccia's intent was to technically and scientifically evaluate the results of the restocking initiatives undertaken by the ATCs, relating them to the origin of the hares and to the characteristics of the territory in which the animals are released.
Enhancement of the faunal heritage
The regional president Lorenzo Bertacchi reiterated the importance of using a scientific approach for the valorisation of the faunal heritage and suitable habitats for wild fauna, together with the development of a management culture of hunters who must invest in the maintenance and care of the habitat as well as respecting the faunal heritage. "We trust that our members - concluded Bertacchi - appreciate how resources are invested and that choosing Federcaccia means choosing the best: no one like us invests in the defense of hunting with the TAR, in research and in communication". Many guests were present, starting with Floriano Massardi, President of the VIII Commission for Agriculture, Mountains and Forests of the Lombardy Region. The regional councilor reiterated the importance of the scientific approach, which should be pursued by all the actors involved in the management of the natural heritage. Massardi, who has always been a Federcacciatore, is confident and affirms that in this new legislature, the hunting world will enjoy greater consideration than the one that has just ended and has declared his commitment as president of the VIII Commission to defend the requests of the hunting world. Gianni Turcati, Regional President of Pro Segugio, took the floor and congratulated the extraordinary project and reiterated the importance of managing the hare and the work of the auxiliaries.
Territory analysis
Then we went directly to the project. Dr. Elisa Armaroli, of Studio Geco, made a technical presentation, in which she reconstructed the history of the hare project, reviewing all the operational phases of the research, from the analysis of the territory, to the choice of the study area and breeding subjects, to then tell the results of the project, both in terms of demographic and environmental and health aspects. Extraordinary results have emerged from the union of the data obtained from this project and from the twin one carried out by the Unique ATC of Brescia: we need to protect the habitat in which these animals live and rethink the methods of entry, abandoning the old schemes for being able to adapt to an environment that has changed compared to the past, rethinking the input methods. A very important aspect of this research is that the protocol used, which is supervised by ISPRA, is applicable not only to all territories within the project area, but being standardized it can be exported to other regions. The Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Emilia Romagna collaborated in the project: present was Dr. Antonio Lavazza, head of the animal protection and health department, as well as Head of the national reference center for lagomorph diseases, who underlined the importance of spend the results of this study in everyday life and to involve more and more citizens in health surveillance operations, according to the One Health vision, i.e. a health model based on the recognition that human health, animal health and ecosystem health are inextricably linked .
Economic availability
The closure of the works by the national Vice President Mauro Cavallari is symbolic, who in 2016, as regional President of Federcaccia Lombardia, strongly wanted the realization of this project. Cavallari hoped that the research model will be exported to other regions, stating that Federcaccia will continue to invest in research to defend our passion "with deeds and not with words". "The greatest thanks - concluded President Bertacchi - goes to our members for the trust they place in Federcaccia, confirming their membership year after year and thus guaranteeing the necessary financial resources: on the other hand, we are certain that this is the only way to keep our passion alive. Long live the Hare and his Hunters!” (source: FIDC).
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