Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July took place in Badia a Moscheta in the green heart of Mugello first course for coadjutors of the BDU (Ungulate Data Bank). The course is the first organized in Tuscany and took place under the organizational direction of CEDAF (Environmental and Faunistic Didactic Education Center). An impeccable organization as recognized by all participants, also given the demand for great professionalism due to an initiative carried out under the recognition and direct participation of ISPRA. The two-day program included a technical-scientific examination of the main issues relating to the management of ungulate species and on the procedures relating to the qualification, which will be followed by a specific examination, of the personnel authorized to enter data in the national BDU.
Twenty-one course participants from various regions of central Italy who followed the interventions of the speakers - Dr. Silvano Toso, Dr. Giorgia Romeo, Dr. Silvano Gambassi, Dr. Veronica Racanelli and Dr. Gregorio Failla who took turns on Saturday. On Sunday instead, it was the turn of Dr. Francesco Riga and Dr. Paolo Montanaro as ISPRA managers, on the illustration of the functions and updating of the BDU. The BDU collects the available data on the distribution, consistency, pre-venation, reintroductions, damage caused to the production activities of wild ungulates (Suidae, Cervidae, Bovidae). The data collected are also geo-referenced at various levels of aggregation (management district, ATC, Province, Region) on a special GIS platform.
In recent years, the BDU data have been used to propose management strategies aimed at reducing the impact of ungulates on human activities, for example damage to agricultural crops and road accidents; these indications have been highlighted in the document “Guidelines for the management of Ungulates. Cervidae and Bovidae ", recently published by ISPRA. The participation of the National President Federcaccia Gian Luca Dall'Olio and the National Vice President of ANUU Giovanni Persona was very welcome and appreciated, both of whom wanted to underline the importance of these appointments which are extremely fundamental to obtain data and knowledge on the trend and the management of hoofed populations by comparing censuses and culling plans made for individual species.
Hunting can and must make its irreplaceable contribution to knowledge and management to be increasingly in tune with the general interests of society, a contribution that requires a cultural growth of hunters and of which the hunting associations will have to act as guarantors. After having obtained this first qualification, the course participants will take the final exam scheduled for next July 28 in Florence, after which they will obtain the qualification of BDU assistant.