Regional Council President Mario Oliverio, along with regional councilor for agricultural policies Mauro D'Acri, participated in a meeting on the topic: "Hunting, Hunting Tourism, Agriculture, and Biodiversity in Calabria: A Necessary Coexistence to Enhance the Territories' Potential."
The conference, organized by the Hunting Associations active in the province of Cosenza at the "Museo del Presente" in Rende, was introduced by Andrea Cuzzocrea, Provincial President of the Game Producers' Association, who outlined the sector's challenges and needs, emphasizing the significant contribution hunting associations can make to protecting and enhancing our region's wildlife heritage.
During his speech, Oliverio announced that the new regional law regulating the sector is ready. Immediately after the elections, a close and open discussion will begin with all regional hunting associations to finalize the new hunting law, which must be approved as soon as possible. The regional president also discussed the Regional Wildlife Plan, which he called "a necessary tool for planning and managing issues related to the sector, which is already being considered by the Regional Council."
"Within this framework," he added, "we will need to address the issue of repopulating native species, which must no longer be achieved through importation, but through local reproduction. Two other issues that must be addressed immediately concern the training of "selective controllers" and the phenomenon of wild boar overpopulation. This latter phenomenon is extremely serious and is causing significant damage to our territories, threatening the safety of citizens and motorists, and the agricultural economy. It is therefore a very serious phenomenon to which we want to provide a timely and concrete response. To this end, we intend to expedite all procedures to prepare specific culling plans as soon as possible, which will include the training of "selective controllers." To this end, we have already spoken with representatives of the national parks to ensure that an intervention plan for the protected areas within the parks is developed as soon as possible."
This issue is also related to the training of volunteer game wardens. Training courses have not been offered for over fifteen years. We intend to invest in this area as well. Finally, the establishment of the Regional Wildlife and Hunting Observatory is vitally important. This tool will allow us to manage all regional issues, broken down province by province, and will also offer new job opportunities for our young people. Regarding the ATCs, we also intend to proceed, immediately after the administration phase, with the regularization of these organizations, taking into account the views of all hunters. The ATCs are an important tool, which can and must perform all the functions previously performed by the Provinces.
"For our part," President Oliverio concluded, "we are fully committed to engaging in an open, shared, and participatory discussion. This will serve to develop and implement, together with the associations, strategies and tools that will best regulate wildlife activity in our region. The only guiding principle is to ensure everyone's interests prevail." (fd)
From ladeadellacaccia.it
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