Hunting and Territory: Bologna, bad weather and starlings, double calamity for the orchards of the province; Coldiretti, "The problem of the cancellation arises from the community directives".
Double calamity on spring fruit in Bologna. Affected by bad weather during flowering and harvesting, cherries and plums were also killed by starlings. “The agricultural producers in the rare moments of respite granted by the rain had to collect the precious fruits left on the trees by competing with these voracious birds present in the tens of thousands in the Bolognese countryside”. This is what Coldiretti Bologna affirms, recalling that the problem of damage caused by starlings stems from a Community directive that places it among the species in danger of extinction in some parts of Europe and only after 2015 is it expected to be reintegrated among the huntable species. "It is a measure that also includes Italy - recalls Coldiretti - where, however, the transfer is not only not at risk, but is constantly growing, to the point of threatening biodiversity, precisely because of the environmental damage it is causing". In the Bolognese area - states Coldiretti - this bird particularly affects crops with high added value and high labor, such as orchards and vineyards, putting business income and employment at risk. In this period, the 480 hectares of cherries and the approximately 700 hectares of plums left without defense are affected as the provincial hunting and fishing department has already concluded the control plans for 2013. So the starlings can safely loot the orchards because l'Ispra, Higher Institute for. Environmental Protection and Research, the body responsible for authorizing the control plans, has no intention of granting exceptions to the plan just concluded ".
“The only alternative - argues Coldiretti - is a request from the provincial administration for a new control plan, which however normally has an authorization procedure of 15-20 days. Enough time for in the end more cherries eaten by starlings than those harvested by producers, with heavy economic losses for those who derive their income from working in the fields ”.
"It is a situation that has been dragging on for some time", says Coldiretti, recalling that a year ago the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Tiberio Rabboni, had asked the then Minister of Agricultural Policies, Mario Catania, to include the transfer among the huntable species, also obtaining the positive opinion of Ispra. “Nothing has been done about it, but we believe this precedent is one more reason to immediately ask for a new control plan. In 2011 alone (latest data available) - Coldiretti recalls - the damage caused by reversal in the province of Bologna amounted to 28.563 euros, which is added to the 660 euros of damage done by other wild animals ”.
7 June 2013
Coldiretti