PESCARA. Countrysides besieged by wild boars, with enormous risks for people’s safety and, above all, millions in damage to agriculture. For the first time, after thirty years, Coldiretti takes to the streets this morning in Pescara for a general mobilization, a procession of farmers, on foot and driving their tractors, which aims to raise awareness among the institutions in the “war” to wild animals which, according to the latest estimates, have now exceeded 100 thousand specimens in the regional territory. Appointment at 10 in Piazza della Repubblica, then the procession will head towards Piazza Unione, under the regional headquarters, crossing Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
«An issue that has been reported several times, for which we have also proposed solutions, but on which we have not yet reached an agreement. The invasion of wildlife remains a major problem for Abruzzo. And for this reason we take to the streets to denounce it”, says the provincial president of Coldiretti, Joseph Scorrano.
“The topic is also hot at a national level,” Scorrano adds, “and in other regions our colleagues have already demonstrated. We ask the Region, in particular the President Marsilio and to the Agriculture Councilor Recklessto help us find solutions”. Historically, the areas most affected by wild boars are mountainous areas, protected areas of parks and surrounding areas. “But in recent years they have moved from these areas down to the hilly areas, which are where most of our agricultural production is located. Now they even reach the sea, it is not uncommon to see them a few meters from the beaches. This is why we chose Pescara as the location for our mobilization: the problem has become of civil and public interest. Just think of the many road accidents and the increase in requests for compensation, in addition to the risks to people’s safety”, Scorrano added.
«In Penne and in the municipalities of the Vestina area the phenomenon is alarming, the numbers speak of a very serious problem for agriculture in the area», he said Federico Domenicone, head of Coldiretti in the Vestina area and councilor of the Municipality of Penne, «There are producers who have had to anticipate, by investing a lot of money, the harvest of wheat and barley to prevent wild boars from destroying the fields and therefore the crops. In Penne, as in Loreto, Farindola or Montebello, the problem is widespread everywhere, with road crossings, invasions of parks and devastation in fields”.
It is difficult to give exact figures on the damage caused by wild boars to agriculture in recent years: “We are talking about figures that are constantly updated. However, we have not only asked the Region to increase the funds for compensation, because farmers want to harvest and produce, not live on subsidies. We want solutions to the problem”.
Killing and capture are the ways to stem this invasion: «We don’t have a preference between one or the other: we just want to reduce the number of animals in circulation», commented Scorrano, «The specter is that of swine fever: at the moment there are no cases in Abruzzo, fortunately, but if we continue like this it will only be a matter of time. And it would be a disaster.”
