The Basilicata Region has allocated new funds to deal with the wild boar emergency that afflicts the area. Through an electronic procedure, the possibility has been opened of entrusting the integrated management of services to a single entity. A budget of 3 million euros, made up of funds from the Val d'Agri Operational Program and regional resources, will be available for the capture or slaughter of animals, the activation of collection centers and the disposal of carcasses, as well as the production of meat and other products with the Basilicata brand.
The objective of the project is to cull 57.486 wild boars throughout the region within a period of 3 years, focusing mainly on the area of the Val d'Agri Operational Program Melandro Sauro Camastra, from Abriola to Viggiano, where the emergency is particularly significant .
The deadline for submitting applications is August 7th. The procedure is managed by SUARB, the single contracting station of the region, with the declared objective of the Councilor for Agriculture, Alessandro Galella, of protecting agricultural production, reducing road accidents and mitigating the risk of spreading African swine fever in the regional territory.
The reactions of the agricultural associations were not long in coming. The CIA-Agricoltori declared itself "measurably satisfied" with the publication of the notice and invited them to proceed with determination to make up for lost time. Confagricoltura hopes that this will be the beginning of a resolution for a problem that has been afflicting the region for some time. Coldiretti and Copagri consider this measure as a first step in the right direction, but underline that more needs to be done, proposing selective culling within the regional parks as a truly decisive solution.