Reggio Calabria, 28 March 2024 – Organized by Federcaccia Nazionale at the Rome headquarters, the seminar "PSA and Extraordinary Depopulation Plan: experiences and intervention strategies" took place last Tuesday 26 March, aimed at the managers of the Federation and those who, due to their role, are faced with the management and wildlife issues and in various ways involved in the health emergency.
Speaking during the proceedings, the National Vice President and Regional President Giuseppe Giordano had the opportunity to directly discuss with the Extraordinary Commissioner at the PSA Dr. Vincenzo Caputo, guest of the works, explaining some specific considerations and requests on the topic and on the ASF eradication plan in Calabria and the related Operational Circular, which can be considered essential priorities to hope for an effective solution to the ASF problem in the region and more generally on the national territory.
First of all, he underlined the need to make up for the lack of carcass collection points, equipped rest centers and game meat processing centers located throughout the area so that they are accessible to teams and all hunters/ bioregulators engaged in the urgent depopulation of wild boar, primarily in the metropolitan area of Reggio Calabria. For their implementation, President Giordano urged the preparation of an adequate investment, considering the costs, which cannot be left to the hunting teams, taking into account the dimensions necessary for the storage of the carcasses while waiting to know the results of the analyzes health and specific preventive hygiene equipment. To this end, he urged the Commissioner to adopt in Calabria the agreements already announced between the Commissioner structure and the AATTCC.
Giordano then addressed the delicate issue of restriction zones, requesting for the territory of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria the revocation of the current Restriction Zone III and its reclassification partly into Zone II and partly into Zone I, depending on the risk and epidemiological trends in individual municipalities. And while waiting for the necessary documents, it requested the immediate modification of the Eradication Plan approved with DCA 33 of 6 February last, extending the depopulation activities permitted in zone II into zone III, as also contemplated by Ordinance 5 of the National Commissioner PSA.
In Restriction Zones II and III, up to no less than 10 km from the border with Zone I, given the provisions already contained in Ordinance 5 and above all, considering the particular morphology of the territory and the current organization of the hunting teams wild boar, which are the backbone for any concrete depopulation activity of the species, it appears essential to activate as soon as possible at least the so-called "hunting or mini-hunting", i.e. a form of harvesting intermediate between the actual hunting and the hunting. “This would allow – underlined the Regional President – also to enhance the specialized dogs for wild boar hunting, preventing this asset, in which the teams have invested tens of thousands of euros each, from being squandered, irreparably weakening their operations on the ground, as unfortunately has already happened for example in the infected area in Liguria. The concession to allow controlled self-consumption of animals killed in Restriction Zone II/III is also fundamental. This request is also based on the experience acquired in Liguria since hunters/bioregulators can thus be more motivated in wild boar depopulation activities, avoiding thermo-destruction or burying of carcasses, with the waste of a resource that is still which can instead be "enhanced".
Even with all the necessary precautions, it is necessary that the operating methods can be traced back to already consolidated forms of withdrawal, otherwise there is a risk, as feared several times, of a real failure of the objectives".
Again with the aim of supporting the activities of the teams and enhancing the depopulation of the wild boar species, Giordano made the request to the Calabria Region to promote and support the creation of a well-organised public supply chain of wild boar meat, appropriately located throughout the territory and potentially attractiveness for the delivery of carcasses.
Another point touched upon is the equally urgent depopulation action in the area of competence of the'Aspromonte Park Authority, for which there is in fact no news of the start of activity.
In consideration of the geographical location of the Park and its considerable extension, failure to activate it would systematically put at risk the effectiveness of the interventions even outside the protected area. The competent authorities are therefore asked to verify and intervene so that the objectives of the depopulation plan have a concrete possibility of success"He concluded.
Following the meeting with the Extraordinary Commissioner, Federcaccia Calabria sent a further note, reiterating the above-expressed proposals, to the Calabria Region and to all the competent Regional Departments and Departments, ensuring on this occasion the full and constructive collaboration of the Association.
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