The regional section of the Molise of the WWF has decided to turn to none other than the European Union to contest the date of closure of the woodcock hunt in the southern region. The hunting calendar 2016-2017 expects the term to be next 30st January, but according to the environmental association it is a violation of national hunting regulations, as well as of the opinion expressed by ISPRA in May 2016.
In the motivations of the WWF Molise we read that the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research has established the 31th December as the deadline for this hunting due to the conservation status of the species. The hope of the association is that an infringement procedure be opened against the Molise region.
The local authority has repeatedly spoken of the need for censuses and monitoring with regard to woodcock, with data confirming a difference in the beginning of the pre-nuptial migration. For the WWF, however, these censuses are inadequate from a scientific point of view: according to ISPRA they should be carried out in protected areas and in the so-called wintering period, that is to say 20 31 from December to January. Molise has already extended the woodcock season for some time, now the EU response is awaited.