La Lombardy regional council, on the proposal of the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Food and Green Systems, Fabio Rolfi, approved a resolution that establishes the criteria for financing innovative projects for the containment of nutria. containment of otters and wildlife, rolfi “The losses caused by otters to agriculture - said Rolfi - are now incalculable. Added to these are the damage to the embankments of water bodies and the risks to road safety. In 2021 there were 60 road accidents caused by nutria in Lombardy. This is why we will start experiments with specialized companies for innovative containment projects of the nutria, which will support the extraordinary effort of the volunteers ".
"We make available to the Provinces - explained the commissioner - 100.000 euros which will be distributed in the current account through a tender already in the year 2022. The involvement of specialized firms has given excellent results in other parts of the world and we want to give a concrete answer here in Lombardy as well. For years we have been saying that nutria is a national emergency and that a government fund is needed, unfortunately never activated. In the meantime, with regional resources we can start some projects and evaluate the results ”. The funds will be used to finance animal censuses in the area, identification of burrows and capture points and killing points, purchase or rental, positioning and activation of cages, shooting activities, carcass disposal and monitoring of results.
All interventions must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the '2021 - 2023 three-year regional plan for the eradication, control and containment of nutria'. “Last month - the commissioner recalled - we approved the new law, which we want to implement immediate, to support the volunteers in this activity, defining objectives and action areas.
In addition, the new national guidelines explicitly provide for the possibility of use 'pest control' firms for the containment of nutria and we intend to exploit this opportunity. Farms are already harassed by rising energy prices, a difficult supply of raw materials and a international market uncertainty. We must implement any solution - concluded Rolfi - to stem a huge problem ".
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