Salerno
After yet another accident caused by a wild boar (this time a seriously injured motorcyclist from Laureana Cilento was involved), Coldiretti SALERNO is mobilizing to protest against the uncontrolled invasion of wild boars and wildlife. According to a Coldiretti estimate, the herds cause damage amounting to 200 million euros per year to crops, but the 170 road accidents with deaths and injuries caused by wild animals must also be added to the bill, according to Coldiretti analysis on Asaps data, which is increasing by 8% compared to the previous year. In the province of Salerno the situation has been worrying for some time. Wild boars destroy crops of wheat, corn, grapes, potatoes and other crops; they invade streets especially at night, turning cities and towns upside down.
Furthermore, wild boars also represent the main vehicle for the spread of African swine fever, a disease that is harmless to humans but which threatens the survival of the national butchery sector, a supply chain worth a total of around 20 billion. According to current rules, a sick boar found kilometers away from a stable is enough to trigger the decision to cull thousands of perfectly healthy pigs. “The presence of wild boars is not just a problem for farmers, but for everyone. And it is a problem that must be solved – underlines the president of Coldiretti Campania and the province of Salerno Ettore Bellelli – it is a real invasion which has been lost control. An emergency reported several times which has seen Coldiretti Salerno mobilized for days through the regional and provincial assembly will lead to a demonstration scheduled for the first half of July”. With the 2023 Budget Law, article 19 ter of Law 157/1992 was introduced, which provides for the adoption of an “Extraordinary Plan for the management and containment of wild fauna”. “The regional implementation plan is missing – explains director Enzo Tropiano – there is no more time to waste. Farmers and breeders can no longer wait, while wild boars continue to devastate the fruits of their hard work, leaving behind only damage and desolation. This is why farmers and breeders are ready to take to the streets again. Yet another accident in Laureana Cilento shows that it is no longer possible to postpone the problem.”
