After theyet another accident caused by a boar (this time a motorcyclist was involved Cilento graduate badly injured), Coldiretti Salerno is mobilizing to protest against the uncontrolled invasion of wild boars and wildlife.
Demonstrations are underway from North to South of the country with thousands of farmers taking to the streets to stop the invasion of wild boars.
The mobilisations, after Sardinia, Abruzzo and Emilia Romagna, will pass through the streets of Puglia, Molise, Marche up to Campania. 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’s a problem that needs to be solved – underlines the president of Coldiretti Campania and the province of Salerno Ettore Bellelli – it is a real invasion of which control has been lost. An emergency reported several times which has seen Coldiretti Salerno mobilized for days through the regional and provincial assemblies. The mobilization will lead to a demonstration scheduled for the first half of July”.
After years of battles by Coldiretti, finally with the 2023 Budget Law, in force for more than 18 months now, article 19 ter of Law 157/1992 was introduced into our legal system, which provides for the adoption of an “Extraordinary Plan for the management and containment of wildlife”. This plan was adopted with an inter-ministerial decree of 13 June 2023, now 12 months ago”.
The containment activities arranged within the scope of the plan do not constitute hunting and are also carried out in areas where hunting is prohibited, including protected areas and urban areas, on hunting silence days and during prohibited periods as provided by law. What is missing then? “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 only damage and desolation in their wake.
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”.
