The controversy continues in Vasto between the councilor Nicola Del Prete and the WWF Hunting Security Guards on the borders of the Don Venanzio Wood Protected Area.
In recent days, Councilor Del Prete had released some statements on the matter of the boundaries of the "Bosco di Don Venanzio" Regional Nature Reserve with which he claimed that the Reserve "erroneously contains dozens of hectares of the territory of Vasto" also citing "events that saw hunters as protagonists denounced because they were surprised within the reserve, but in territory of the Municipality of Vasto which, by law, should be outside the reserve ".
In response, the Voluntary Security Guards of the WWF Association and those of the Provincial Body Association Gev "Chieti" had excluded, according to current legislation, any possibility of hunting within the "Bosco di Don Venanzio" Regional Reserve both in the countryside of the municipality of Pollutri and in that of Vasto.
The coordinator of the WWF Security Guards, Claudio Allegrino, said "The boundaries of the Reserve are indicated in the cartography attached to the regional law establishing the Regional Reserve. They include the municipalities of Vasto and Pollutri. This cartography is the only one that has legal value as it is the only one to be published in the Regional Bulletin (BURA) of the Abruzzo Region ”.
Antonio Giovannelli of the GEV of Chieti had then declared that "The Hunting Guards act in compliance with the current legislation on the basis of which the hunting activity carried out within the boundaries of the Reserve (as delimited by the cartography and legislation in force) is prohibited and criminally prosecuted.
Councilor Del Prete refers to a law proposal of the Pace regional council which, therefore, has lapsed as it has not been approved and has no legal value. We invite Councilor Del Prete to be more cautious in making statements that could confuse hunters about the possibility of hunting within the Regional Reserve, but above all they could stir up spirits and create situations that could become risky for the volunteers themselves.
We invite all stakeholders to sit around a table in order to find a solution on the matter of the boundaries of the Bosco di Don Venanzio Reserve to be submitted to the Regional Council so that it can legislate accordingly. "
It is precisely to these declarations by the environmentalists that the councilor Del Prete gives a prompt reply, declaring "I appreciate the interventions of the coordinator of the WWF security guards Claudio Allegrino and the President of the voluntary hunting guards of the Gev provincial body association of Chieti, Antonio Giovannelli because , in fact, they admit that in the "Bosco di Don Venanzio" nature reserve in Pollutri there is a problem and must be solved".
Del Prete continues "I am amazed that even these associations do not read the cards but limit themselves to interpreting a map without reading the content of the law. 128 of 29 November 1999 published in the BURA on 15 December 1999 in which it is clearly stated that the Abruzzo Region proceeded to the "Establishment of the guided nature reserve" Bosco di Don Venanzio "in the territory of the municipality of Pollutri".
Del Prete therefore underlines this particular "… In the territory of Pollutri and not Vasto, as erroneously one tries to make people believe. Not surprisingly, in the following article, Vasto is not mentioned at all. Those who think they can incorporate about 40 hectares of Vasto territory without the sharing of the Municipal Council of Vasto, which has never expressed itself in this sense, is grossly mistaken and commits a lightness when it states that "The Hunting Guards act in compliance with current legislation in on the basis of which the hunting activity carried out within the boundaries of the Reserve is prohibited and criminally prosecuted ".
The director then specifies "Too bad that there is no current legislation that says that the territory of the Municipality of Vasto is inside the Reserve, there is only an incorrect cartography that must be corrected. It is no coincidence that the regional council itself, in 2001, had remedied this error, but the Regional Council, having not received any official communication from the Municipality of Vasto, did not proceed with a re-approval of the law as it had requested the same junta ".
Continuing, Del Prete affirms on the question "Nobody wants to stir up the spirits, there is only the urgent, imperative need to remedy an error that encompasses the territory of Vasto under the management of another body, in this case the Municipality of Pollutri, without there is no official act of the Municipality of Vasto. In practice, the Municipality of Pollutri is managing for a mere clerical error, about 40 hectares of the territory of Vasto".
In conclusion, adviser Del Prete warns, "Then when it comes to poaching, I would go cautiously our hunters know perfectly the rules and laws, to define them poachers, it seems to me that it is those who do not read the cards that provoke ”.