Wildlife and hunting management
The objective is twofold: to contain the population of ungulates, especially wild boars, and to limit damage to agricultural production to combat the circulation of African swine fever. The commitment of theEmilia Romagna and in particular of the Department of Agriculture on one of the most important fronts of its action to control the territory and safeguard crops and livestock. The Region, in fact, has long directed the planning of wildlife and hunting management of the species by implementing all the methods permitted by current national legislation on its territory. A planning that has allowed the achievement of considerable results in terms of animals removed and mitigation of impacts, contributing to the reduction of the presence of ungulates even before the arrival of African Swine Fever (ASF) on the national territory.
Pig supply chain
“Emilia-Romagna is one of the most virtuous regions in Italy for the management of ungulates on its territory,” underlines the Councilor for Agriculture, Alessio Mammi, “through the adoption of a structured management and control plan, which has introduced innovative tools and maximum flexibility of intervention, in addition to significant economic resources also earmarked for supporting the production system. In addition to causing damage to agricultural production,” continues Mammi, “ungulates pose critical issues for road safety and are the main vectors of swine fever; therefore, controlling their population is a priority for securing the territory and the pig supply chain, which is worth almost 5 billion euros to consumption. The results obtained so far are encouraging and have also been appreciated by the National Extraordinary Commissioner Giovanni Filippini, whom I thank for his collaboration. Now it is important not to lower our guard because the road to eradicating the virus is still long but it is an objective that we must continue to pursue,” concludes the Councilor.
Measures implemented for the depopulation of ungulates
In this sense, numerous actions have been undertaken that have seen our Region lead the way for innovative solutions aimed at minimizing the impact of ungulates on human activities, in particular on agricultural production. Already the approval in 2018 of the Regional Hunting and Wildlife Plan, which is now being renewed, has implemented control of the species based on the damage caused to the regional territory and the provision of non-conservative management on most of the regional territory. This was then continued in 2021 with the approval of the Regional Control Plan, which allows maximum flexibility of intervention throughout the regional territory, without time limitations or numerical limits on the number of animals, and allows self-defense by farmers and breeders, also through the use of trusted assistants. A measure that, in the first year of application alone, has allowed an average increase of 30% in collections. Furthermore, the annual hunting culling plans have extended the possibility of implementing selective culling throughout the year, up to 24 hours a day.
A specific investment
Extraordinary management measures have been initiated to achieve a constant and progressive decrease in the presence of the wild boar species in the regional territory to combat the Psa virus. Additional facilities for the culling of the species were introduced by the approval of the Regional Urgent Interventions Plan (PRIU) in August 2022. Furthermore, the collective hunting period for wild boar was extended from three to four months, as soon as national legislation allowed it. A specific investment of over 2023 million euros has been planned since 3, of which 1,1 million are planned in 2025 for the provincial police and the Metropolitan City of Bologna for the implementation of control plans for selection activities (both for wild boars and fossors), and almost 2 million have been allocated to the commissioner structure, which has entrusted tenders to specialized companies for selective shooting and trap management. In 2024, the new Ungulate Regulation has modified the hunting culling of the wild boar species in terms of greater incisiveness.
Measures dedicated to agricultural companies
As regards regional resources to support agricultural companies, the Regional Council has provided for an average allocation of 1 million euros per year for all species for damage to agricultural production, which was consistent with the requests received. To this figure are then added the resources made available by the Territorial Hunting Areas (ATC) in the territories under their jurisdiction relating to huntable species. Other resources will be available thanks to the confirmation of the annual allocation of 300 thousand euros for companies that intend to protect production through the introduction of preventive defense systems. The actions implemented so far have already achieved the first results. In 2023, the damage ascertained to agricultural production due to wild boars has halved, going from 800 thousand to 400 thousand euros. As regards the control of the species, in the last 3 years we have gone from approximately 4.400 captures to 6.400, with an increase of over 45%.
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