Hunting: Turin, the Vignale regional councilor presented a question regarding the blockade of the Province for wildlife control activities. Who pays the damages to the farmers?
The management of the control and containment activities of harmful species implemented by the Province of Turin will be submitted to the judgment of the Region, through a question presented by the regional councilor Gian Luca Vignale in the Council. A first question is posed regarding the choice by the Province - the only one in the whole Region - to oblige hunters who carry out control activities to have additional insurance, paid by the Province which, however, is not granted to persons who have passed the 75 years, thus excluding a significant number of people who could carry out control activities.
“In all the other provinces - explains Vignale -, not only in Piedmont but also in Italy, hunters can carry out containment and control interventions of the species without age limits and with the insurance they usually use for hunting. In the Province of Turin, on the other hand, additional insurance is requested, paid by the Province, which however excludes all hunters who have reached the age of 75, even if in possession of a regular firearms license. It is evident that this is a doubly wrong choice: because public resources are used to ensure those who already are and because at the same time control activities are limited, thus increasing the damage to wild species that the Province was unable to control " .
To this problem is added another much more serious: the control and containment of harmful species is in fact blocked from 1 January 2013 (only in the Province of Turin) due to the expiry of the terms of a Protocol signed by the Province and Ispra almost 10 years ago. In 2004, in fact, the Province of Turin had signed a Technical Protocol with the National Institute for Wildlife which governed the control actions of fox, corvid, coypu and minilepre populations pursuant to art. 29 LR 70/96. Protocol expired today - not suddenly but being a ten-year document with wide notice - and it is not known why it was not renewed. This means that since January 2013 nothing has been done in the Turin area to contain the damage to wildlife.
"The impediment to some of the hunters - concludes Gian Luca Vignale - for a pure age limit before and today the total blocking of pest control activities, except wild boars, will cause greater damage to farmers and public bodies that will find themselves to face an increase in costs which today is difficult to calculate and which tomorrow is painfully repayable. ".
Gianluca Vignale
President of the Piedmont Region Hunting Commission
Regional Councilor for Progetto'Azione
Below we publish the text of the question presented to the Regional Council by the Regional Councilor Gian Luca Vignale:
"
To the President of
Regional Council
of Piedmont
INTERROGATION
pursuant to article 18, paragraph 4, of the Articles of Association e
Article 99 of the Internal Regulations
Ordinary with oral answer in the Chamber
Ordinary with oral response in the Commission
Ordinary with written answer
Indifferent and urgent in the Chamber
Indifferent and urgent in the Commission
SUBJECT: THE PROVINCE OF TURIN BLOCKS FAUNISTIC CONTROL ACTIVITIES. WHO WILL COMPENSATE DAMAGES TO FARMERS?
Granted
That the Piedmont Region with law no. 4 (art. 2012) has repealed the LR 5/40/4 n. 9 "Rules for the protection of homeothermic wildlife and hunting", as amended by previous LL.RR. n. 1996/70, n. 19/2009 and 22/2009, while acknowledging valid and effective the acts adopted for its implementation.
That the Piedmont Region, in order to make uniform on the whole territory of its competence all behavior inherent to the aspects connected to the organization of the hunting activity and to the management of homeothermic wildlife, with DGR 30/7/2012 n. 211-4413, has formulated clarifications and operational indications to the Provinces to which to refer in the exercise of the functions conferred.
That with DGR 30/7/2012 n. 211-4413 the regional council has established that the provinces, given the validity and effectiveness of the current regulatory framework, are required to continue the activity of controlling the fauna in compliance with the provisions of the regulations in force and the respective acts adopted.
Taken note
That with its own resolution no. 1034-17554 / 2003 of 26/8/2003, as amended by DGP n. 1357-259913 of 21/10/2003, the Council of the Province of Turin approved the Technical Protocol with the National Institute for Wildlife which governs the control actions of fox, corvid, coypu and minilepre populations pursuant to art. 29 LR 70/96.
That the Province of Turin has established that the control interventions of the hooded crow and black crow species, as well as their stalking hybrids with the use of templates, are allowed only in the Restocking and Capture Areas (ZRC) and in the Specific Hunting Areas (ACS) entrusted to the management of the territorial hunting area competent for the territory and within a band of 500 m from the perimeter borders of each of them and also that in each ZRC and ACS, no more than 3 selecontrollers can operate at the same time.
Considered
That due to the expiry of the terms of validity of the aforementioned Protocol from 1 January 2013, the containment operations of the problematic fauna species in the Province of Turin have been suspended, with the exception of the wild boar for which the provincial council has approved a specific protocol.
Also considered
That, within the aforementioned Technical Protocol, the magpie, although a species responsible for damage to agriculture and small fauna, was not included among the species subject to control interventions.
Already in a first national report of the interventions to limit wild species responsible for agricultural or faunal damage, Cocchi (1991) had highlighted that the Corvids are the group that requires the greatest number of interventions, and the Magpie alone represents 9,8 , XNUMX% of damage to agricultural crops;
verified
That the Province of Turin with its own act of council, protocol number 1039 - 47433/2012, approved the Program for the control of wild boar in the Province of Turin for the year 2013, establishing however - unique in the whole of Piedmont - the insurance for civil risks towards third parties and accidents of the participants in the sampling rounds it is contemplated in the general insurance policy of the Entity;
That the insurance for hunters operating in the control actions are in charge of the province (dgpn 1039 - 47433/2012) and cannot be subscribed by people who have reached the age of XNUMX, thus limiting the number of people able to participate in activities control.
QUESTION
The President of the Regional Council and the councilor responsible for knowing:
- if this administration does not deem it appropriate to take action in order to interrupt the harmful interruption of the containment interventions of the species subject to control, such as crow, millelepri, foxes implemented throughout the province of Turin;
- if this administration does not consider it inappropriate (and if so, how it intends to act to block this practice) the choice of the Province of Turin to oblige those who intend to carry out control activities to have insurance for civil risks towards third parties and injury to the participants at the sampling trips contemplated in the general insurance policy of the Entity and not subscribable to all hunters who have already reached the age of 75;
- if it is not considered useful, also for the purpose of preventing and reducing damage to farmers, insert the magpie among the species subject to containment interventions and at the expense of who will be responsible for the costs of compensation for damage caused by the species covered by the Protocol today expired and no longer renewed.
Gian Luca Vignale (FIRST SIGNATORY)
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(February 1, 2013)