The general picture of the situation
The control room on African swine fever met in recent days and established a clear and defined policy for the eradication of the ASF virus throughout the national territory, with particular attention also and above all to those areas which have been most affected, or who could be affected by the problem. First of all certainly Emilia Romagna, on whose territory there are some of the largest meat production companies from pigs and which, if possibly affected by ASF, would lead to unimaginable consequences on an economic level, with possible influences also in other sectors of the market.
With the control room, which met in Rome, it was also decided to attribute a new, important and peculiar competence to the Civil Protection, namely the competence on epidemic diseases of livestock. With this important innovation, certainly, there is an intervention of greater importance and, we hope, more effective in the management of this problem which has been plaguing the sector for almost five years now.
Emilia Romagna: example of commitment to eradicating the problem
Certainly the Emilia Romagna Region, to date, represents one of the examples to follow regarding the management of the ASF problem.
In fact, starting from the first case of PSA in Italy, which occurred in 2022 in Piedmont, it has always deployed huge resources to deal with the problem.
Among the exemplary choices, that of the approval first of all of a risk containment and management plan and, subsequently, a real ASF eradication plan, with which those areas were identified in which it will be necessary to proceed with a real action of depopulation of the wild boar.
The last certainly praiseworthy example is that of the particular attention to biosafety on farms, with the increase in veterinary staff willing to carry out checks on all farms.
Depopulation actions and financing to carry them out
Let’s now look at another fundamental aspect relating to the political choices of Emilia Romagna, with a view to depopulating the wild boar species.
After the species control plan was approved, and after the most critical areas were identified, the Region prepared two tenders which will be operational within days, with a view to further financing the wild boar culling actions. The killings mentioned in the notices concern both killing actions through shooting and killing after capture with traps.
A third tender, which is currently still being defined, would allow the use of the entire sum of two million euros, which the Region itself made available last year for the provincial police.
For the year 2024, 900 thousand euros have been made available for the creation of a wildlife control and wild boar management plan. These 900 thousand euros will be added to the already 4.8 million that the Region transfers annually to all the Provinces for the management of the faunal heritage,
Starting from 2024, there will be the possibility of reporting with the head killed (130 euros) and the possibility for provincial police forces to establish agreements with external bodies including territorial hunting areas (source: Emilia Romagna Region).
