The president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, has signed a new Ordinance containing provisions for the prevention and control of ASF-African Swine Fever.
“With this provision – comments President Fontana – we intend to maximize the depopulation activities of wild boars, the main vectors of African Swine Fever in farmed pigs and responsible for extensive damage to agriculture. The Ordinance confirms all the measures already in place, but intends to facilitate the fight against wild boars with fewer bureaucratic, procedural and economic resource management constraints”.
These are the main new points included in the document signed by the president.
– In protected areas, such as parks and nature reserves, the principle of substitutive power is introduced by the Lombardy Region if the managing body is not able to adopt the control plan.
– Regional hunting areas and districts will be able to make use of unused economic resources for wild boar control and management activities, encouraging the creation of structures suitable for the delivery and storage of carcasses on site.
– Wild boar control activities coordinated by the provincial police may be authorized without necessarily requiring the presence of an agent, using remote methods. Firing will also be permitted from a vehicle (for example from the bed of a pickup). Operators will also be able to use night vision goggles and any light source that can facilitate the activity. However, the necessary safety conditions will be guaranteed.
– Simplification of the procedures for biometric surveys on killed wild boars.
– In the ‘restriction zone II’, killing of wild boars is permitted as wildlife control. Other forms of hunting are permitted, as long as they respect biosecurity protocols. In ‘restriction zone I’, wild boar hunting is permitted and must aim to kill as many animals as possible.
– Another novelty concerns the consumption of wild boar meat killed in Restriction Zone II. Until now, all carcasses had to be destroyed, now it will be possible to authorize the private domestic use of slaughtered animals for self-consumption, provided that they pass through facilities approved by the ATS Veterinary Service, in compliance with specific biosafety procedures and that such carcasses test negative to laboratory tests for the detection of the ASF virus.
“The President’s new Ordinance – concludes the Councilor for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Alessandro Beduschi – is a further response to the need to control this invasive species, to protect the livestock heritage represented by pig farms which, now months, have strengthened security measures to the maximum to protect a fundamental sector for Lombardy and national agri-food. Today the meat coming from our farms is the safest and most controlled in the world.”
