Ponds of the Plain: The network of Tuscan hunting lakes between Florence and Pistoia represents an important contribution to biodiversity that FACE has included in its “Manifesto” as the first Italian experience presented by Federcaccia.
The area of the Florentine plain, which extends west of Florence, involving the provinces of Prato and Pistoia, is one of the most populated areas with the highest industrial manufacturing concentration in Tuscany. In this panorama, the so-called Piana Ponds stand out, over 40 water surfaces of various sizes, from 1 to 15 hectares, of great importance for the maintenance of biodiversity and natural habitats. A system of wetlands born about 30 years ago on the initiative of hunters who decided to create small shallow artificial lakes with the aim of hunting ducks, coots and other aquatic plants. Since then, numerous and continuous interventions have been regularly carried out to maintain and recover, where they were lost, the typical characteristics of these wetlands, through the regulation of the water level, the cultivation of indigenous natural essences and wheat and sorghum in lose. Outside the hunting period, the work of hunters becomes even more demanding, to maintain optimal water levels and the conditions of the tree species to better support the birds in the phase of pre-nuptial migration and reproduction and breeding of the offspring. All actions that are normally carried out in the late summer period, with a reduced use of mechanical tools and a consistent use of manual work, to ensure maximum respect and minimize disturbance for the fauna, involving more than 500 people in this operation. maintenance of wetlands. A work carried out at their own expense, from every point of view, by the hunters who manage the lakes, and which shows a significant result in contrasting the loss of soil, habitat and increased presence of all the avifauna, not only the huntable one, verified. and demonstrated by numerous censuses, including that of Wetlands International. Results that led to the classification of this area as an SPA and its inclusion in the Natura 2000 network. Without the efforts of hunters - underlines FACE - this great alluvial plain would have suffered a serious loss both from the point of view of biodiversity and wetlands.
The sharing of this experience at European level, which highlights the contribution of hunting activities to the protection of biodiversity in our country, was managed by the Italian Federation of Hunting, coordinating the provincial and local sections through its Avifauna Migratory Office, which is responsible for the collection of related data and required documentation. The presentation of the Piana Ponds - considered particularly significant among the contributions sent - is part of the request made by FACE to the Hunting Associations that are part of it to actively participate in the "Manifesto for Biodiversity in the Mediterranean" project through the involvement in working groups aimed at sharing of experiences and activities that highlight the contribution of hunters to the protection of biodiversity in the European countries concerned. The initiative aims to show those who intervene in environmental decision-making policies and public opinion, through the production of shared documents and records, that the practice of responsible hunting and the management interventions related to it can represent a valid support for the conservation of Nature. An important occasion, which the Italian Federation of Hunting did not miss and which led to this first recognition for Italian hunters, visible at https://www.face.eu/about-us/resources/news/stagni -della-gigante-italian-hunters-created-wetlands-now-included-in-natura.
Rome, 3 April 2014 - Press Office of the Italian Hunting Federation