CANAVESE – The Piedmont Regional Administrative Court rejected the appeal of the associations LAV, OIPA, SOS Gaia, ENPA, PAN Odv, Pro Natura Turin, the National Body for the Protection of Animals Odv and the Foundation for Ecospirituality Odv against the Colombo Containment Plan ( Columbia liva forma domestica) for the years from 2024 to 2029. The TAR considered unfounded and therefore rejected all five grounds of appeal presented by the associations in order to obtain the annulment of the Resolution approving the Plan, voted on ‘unanimity from the Metropolitan Council on February 15th. The appellant associations were ordered to pay legal costs.
It should be noted that the implementation of the actions envisaged in the Plan has already begun in recent months with the organization of training courses for farmers who intend to engage in the containment of the species. Each of the training participants, after having successfully passed a final exam, will be authorized to carry out the actions. The metropolitan city of Turin will soon also dedicate training courses to citizens in possession of a hunting license and to the staff of companies specialized in pigeon containment.
The first ground of appeal rejected by the TAR concerned the lack of legal requirements to carry out a “control” on wildlife. The Regional Administrative Court deemed the arguments contained in the contested documents and regarding the health needs and protection of the historical-artistic heritage to be adequate. Also rejected was the reference to the alleged danger, also for people, of the means of control envisaged by the Plan, the use of which is, in the opinion of the Piedmont TAR, motivated by health needs. Furthermore, in the TAR ruling it is noted that gas cannons and balloons inflated with helium can be used exclusively in rural areas, to prevent damage to open field crops.
The TAR then recognized that the Metropolitan City of Turin has experimented with indirect and non-bloody methods for the control of Colombo in the past, with unsatisfactory results in terms of reducing population density in the area. Furthermore, the principles of proportionality and graduality of the actions undertaken planned for containment are respected, since there is no “blanket” implementation of the Control Plan through active containment tools, to be used instead following reports of damage coming from from the territory.
The TAR then recognized that the use of nets or cages for live capture envisaged by the Plan does not expose other animal species to the risk of being killed by mistake, since the cages must be checked at least once a day, in order to release specimens of birds belonging to other species that may have been captured.
Furthermore, the grounds of appeal relating to the non-compliance of the euthanasia methods with the European regulations on the matter and the conflict of the Resolution of the Metropolitan City of Turin with the Extraordinary Plan for the management and containment of wild fauna adopted in 2023 by the Ministry of Turin were also rejected. ‘Environment and energy security. This extraordinary plan expressly provides for the need for operators responsible for control operations to have attended specific training courses according to the programs prepared by ISPRA.
WHAT THE PLAN INCLUDES
The Plan provides in detail the measures for the containment of populations which, in rural areas, cause significant damage to cereal crops, while in urban areas they pose problems of hygiene and the decorum of public spaces. In urban areas, the use of trap cages installed by the Municipalities is envisaged, while in extra-urban areas both the use of capture cages and shooting operations by select controllers trained and authorized by the Metropolitan City are possible. The Plan has obtained the positive opinions of ISPRA, of the Sustainable Development, Biodiversity and Natural Areas Sector of the Piedmont Region, of the Natural Systems Directorate of the Metropolitan City, of the Management Bodies of the Piedmont Po Park, of the Protected Areas of the Cottian Alps and of the Royal Parks”.
To prevent damage to agricultural crops during the sowing and ripening phases, gas cannons with timed detonations, dissuasive shapes of various shapes or balloons inflated with helium that remain suspended in the air can be used.
With regards to grain collection, nesting and fouling of industrial or artisanal sites, grain storage warehouses and livestock farms, where possible, nets can be installed to close entry points and tilting panels equipped with sensors to automatic opening. Measures are envisaged to protect bat colonies. Except in Special Protection Areas, birds of prey belonging to native species and trained by authorized individuals may be used. Firing during daytime must take place with the use of smooth-bore shotguns of a caliber no greater than 12 and in the vicinity of crops at risk of damage, livestock farms, warehouses or industrial sites. Where, for safety reasons, shooting is not practicable, selective live capture nets or trap cages, activated with food bait, can be used.
Preventive containment measures in urban areas are aimed at reducing food resources and nesting sites, with the prohibition of the administration of grains or other foods desired by pigeons in public places, the obligation to physically block the birds’ access points to public and private buildings (attics) and to flyover pylons. Municipal building and hygiene regulations must provide for fences with anti-intrusion nets, the use of electrified wires, cable deterrents and the use of anti-intrusion filaments placed on the edges of solar or photovoltaic panels. The occlusion of breeding sites with nets must be implemented selectively, so as not to preclude access to other species.
