Ungulate emergency
The initial assessments by CIA Alessandria-Asti and CIA Piemonte following the meeting on wildlife organized by CIA National in Rome with Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida are positive. The proposed reform of Law 157/92 on wildlife finally represents the first concrete step toward revising an outdated and inadequate legislation that, for years now, has failed to address the ungulate emergency, despite the millions of dollars in damage to agriculture and the environment, the risk of disease, increasingly frequent road accidents, and threats to public safety, even in urban areas.
Situation out of control
Cia Piemonte president Gabriele Carenini said: “Reforming the law on wildlife is the last chance we have to re-establish the natural balance on the territory, protecting the environment and agriculture. It is not true that nothing has been done in recent years, but the impact of wildlife has become so significant that it has gotten out of control. Ordinary tools are no longer enough, extraordinary interventions are needed. The law currently in force, over thirty years old, is outdated by the reality of the facts, a radical and immediate reform is needed”. Cia Alessandria-Asti president Daniela Ferrando, present together with her deputy Amedeo Cerutti and director Paolo Viarenghi, adds: "We are not just talking about wild boars, because of which farmers in some internal areas of the country have given up sowing, but the damage is now evident also on tree crops, in vineyards, where roe deer and other wild species are depopulating. The more 'lucky' agricultural companies, which still continue their activity, are still forced to budget in advance a share of the loss caused by wild fauna".
Excess and invasive species
On the subject of African Swine Fever, Carenini stated: “If ensuring that wild boars do not leave the infected areas was a good health measure, we must compensate the farmers who sacrifice themselves for everyone in those buffer zones, suffering the consequences of the restrictions. And then, in parallel with the control and biosecurity activities, it is appropriate that we also proceed with the slaughter of wild boars in the red zones, to prevent their numbers from becoming uncontrollable”. If the 1992 law focused on the protection of fauna, today the situation has reversed, with some species in excess if not invasive. The most striking example concerns wild boars, responsible for 80% of the damage to the agricultural sector: we have gone from a population of 50 thousand heads in Italy in 1980 to 900 thousand in 2010, up to over 2 million today.
Containment plans
In particular, among the requests of Cia accepted in the current text of the bill, the recognition of the active role of agricultural entrepreneurs in the control of wild fauna, first and foremost wild boars, stands out. The bill provides, in fact, the possibility for farmers, equipped with a hunting license and specific training, to participate directly in containment plans, even in emergency contexts, contributing on the one hand to a more widespread and timely control of the territory and, on the other, responding to the sector's request for operational tools to defend crops and livestock and protect agricultural activity. Positive, for Cia, also the strengthening of the function of the ATC (Territorial Hunting Areas), which are entrusted with the task of promoting synergies with the agricultural world and which will be able to encourage practices favorable to the rebalancing of wild fauna. It is one of the most heartfelt requests by the Confederation and by all farmers, the establishment of a compensation fund and simplified procedures for compensation. Furthermore, a national control room would be needed, also with agricultural representation, because the responsibility for containment is still too fragmented among different bodies (Regions, Provinces, police forces, managers of protected areas) with the risk of poor effectiveness; finally, a greater role for agricultural organizations in wildlife-hunting governance and planning.
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