ISPRA's hearing before the Chamber of Deputies' Agriculture Committee represents one of the most important steps in the reform of Law 157/92.

Luigi Ricci, director of the Department for Environmental Monitoring and Protection and Biodiversity Conservation, spoke at the event, expressing an overall favorable opinion of the updated legislation, while highlighting some critical issues.

According to Ricci, amending a law passed over thirty years ago is a "correct and reasonable" choice. In the meantime, the landscape, wildlife populations, migratory routes, and even the hunting community have changed: from over 1,9 million hunters in the 1980s, numbers have dropped significantly, with an increasingly high average age and limited generational turnover. ISPRA also noted that it was involved in the preparatory phase of the reform and that many of the Institute's observations have already been incorporated into the legislation.

One of the most significant passages of the hearing concerns the role of hunting in nature conservation. Citing the European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity, Ricci reiterated that hunting activities planned according to scientific criteria can be fully compatible with the protection of wild species and contribute concretely to habitat management, environmental improvements, and the containment of invasive alien species. This position recognizes that hunting can be not only a harvesting activity, but also a tool for land and biodiversity management.

Regarding the reform, ISPRA expressed a positive assessment of the changes recognizing the contribution of hunting to ecosystem protection, the new regulations for wildlife management at airports, the nationwide extension of permits for the selective culling of ungulates, and the increased flexibility in the management of wildlife and hunting farms. The elimination of the exclusivity of certain types of hunting was also deemed acceptable, while urging monitoring for any increases in hunting pressure.

Criticisms, however, focus on specific aspects of the bill. ISPRA believes the reform should provide greater protection for species with an unfavorable conservation status, citing in particular the Rock Ptarmigan and the Skylark. Concerns have also been raised regarding the expansion of Territorial Hunting Areas and the possibility of transforming some Wildlife and Hunting Farms into Agritourism Hunting Farms without prior technical and scientific assessment. The most sensitive issue, however, remains that of live decoys, on which the Institute points out potential challenges with respect to European legislation.

Among the most significant moments of the hearing was Ricci's response to the role of hunters in wildlife management. The ISPRA director stated that hunting, if conducted competently, responsibly, and on a scientific basis, can serve a bioregulatory function. Hunters, according to this view, can contribute to managing excess populations, preventing crop damage, and controlling health emergencies such as African swine fever. Furthermore, thanks to their widespread presence throughout the country, they could also play an important role in the epidemiological monitoring of avian influenza and in gathering information useful for wildlife management.

The hearing thus confirms an orientation that, while maintaining some reservations about specific provisions of the reform, recognizes the need to update Law 157/92 and attributes to hunting, if practiced in compliance with science and regulations, an active role in the conservation of biodiversity and the management of the national wildlife heritage.