Damage from wildlife and compensation claims for hundreds and hundreds of thousands of euros. And compensation times for farmers are currently very long. And the alarm launched by Villa Rendano in Cosenza on the occasion of the conference ‘Wildlife: multidisciplinary approach to prevent damage while respecting biodiversity’, organized by the order of agronomists and forestry doctors of the Province of Cosenza and by the Order of Veterinary Doctors of the Province of Cosenza.
An event that allowed us to compare various experiences and studies on the causes of the wildlife emergency and on the actions implemented to mitigate its damage. This is a real emergency, which is bringing the entire agricultural supply chain to its knees, which is also suffering from the slow and partial nature of the compensation provided by the Regions and National Parks which are also dealing with hunting bans in protected areas.
In particular, according to what emerged during the conference, most of the damage is caused by wild boars, but also by wolves and porcupines. And in 2023, the requests for compensation for damage amount to approximately 1.7 million euros for the Calabria Region, 500 thousand euros for the Pollino Park and one million euros for the Sila Park. The compensation times to date are very long, especially for the areas of ATc (Territorial Hunting Area) competence, which are in fact regional competence. The Pollino Park is faster with payment at 95 days on average.
The conference made use of the contributions of professors from the Federico II University of Naples, from Criuv, the veterinary research center of the Campania Region and from the planning of the Pollino, Sila and Cilento Parks.
In conclusion, the round table with representatives of the agricultural trade associations who called for immediate interventions, denouncing the serious crisis in the sector due to damage from wildlife.
The president of the Order of Veterinary Doctors of the Province of Cosenza Anna Palucci and the president of the Order of agronomists and forestry doctors of the Province of Cosenza Michele Santaniello, at the end of the work, underlined how the conference must represent the starting point to outline a path for an activity that involves all those interested in the difficulties created by wildlife and that in particular the Calabria Region takes action to establish a permanent body capable of giving immediate and concerted responses to the problem.
