The reasons with which the Council of State rejected the appeal of the hunting associations against the decision of Basilicata Regional Administrative Court on 2017-2018 calendar. The ruling had concerned Federcaccia, ANUUMigrators e Arch Hunting, while the animal rights activists opposed to the hunting calendar were those of LIPU, ENPA, WWF and LAV.
THEHigher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) had prescribed the closure of the woodcock hunt on December 31, while January 20 was to be the deadline for aquatic birds (mallards, pochards, snipe and so on). Also, the institute had talked about thrushes and cesene (closed on 10 January) and quail and turtle doves (31 October). These opinions are not binding, but the judges hinted that further evaluations are needed.
One of the main insights concerned quail. In the regional calendar, the closing date was set for November 30th, despite the fact that ISPRA had prescribed October 31st. For the species it is necessary to evaluate the recent inclusion in the “Last concern” category and the presumed constant decline in the countries of the European Union. The figure would not have been adequately contested by the Basilicata Region to justify a difference of one month and therefore the appeal cannot be accepted. These findings cannot be ignored for the 2018-2019 Lucanian calendar.