Coldiretti Sardinia is mobilizing to raise awareness of the emergency represented by the damage caused by wildlife , a «problem that is affecting dozens of farms across the island on a daily basis and is continuing to take on increasingly worse contours, as demonstrated by the tragic events on our roads , the latest in chronological order being the accident in Pula two days ago which cost the life of a motorcyclist".

To urge the institutions to intervene, the association announces, on June 27th, sit-ins in front of the prefectures of the four provincial capitals of Cagliari, Sassari, Nuoro and Oristano, «to ask for the help of the prefects in the face of this umpteenth problem which it affects the world of the Sardinian countryside."

ACCIDENTS – Coldiretti also lists the numbers of the consequences caused by wild boars, deer, crows, nutrias and cormorants: « The Report of the association of supporters and friends of the traffic police, we read in a note from the association, underlines how in Sardinia there were 4 serious accidents in recent years (people seriously injured or deceased) caused by animals with, in 2023 in Italy, 193 relevant cases, an increase of 7.8% on 2022 and 11 deaths. In 170 cases, the report highlights, the accident was caused by wild animals (88%) while the remaining 12% by domestic animals".

THE DAMAGE ACCOUNT – According to Coldiretti, the wild boar above all is «the animal that causes the greatest amount of damage to businesses and people. In the Province of Oristano , in the last 5 years alone, compensation of 226 thousand euros has been paid (compared to over 348 thousand euros in total for all damage from wildlife) or approximately 82% compared to 18% from other animals. Based on the survey, the most affected areas are those of Sinis and Montiferru. Furthermore, overall, during 2022 and 2023, 85 and 83 road accidents caused by wild boar were confirmed respectively ."

Again, «again with regards to wild boar, in the Nuoro area , as emerged from the Management and Control Plan of the Province, in the five-year period 2016/2020 there were over 300 thousand euros in damages to the agricultural companies that submitted applications (195 applications accepted out of the 225 submitted ) and an average of 1,500 euros per approved application with an average annual amount of 60 thousand euros (the top three municipalities for indemnified amounts are Bitti, Nuoro and Dorgali). The road accidents detected in the 2018/2021 period in the Province were 360 ".

And then Sassari, where «the Containment Plan highlights how between 2015 and 2021 compensation for just under 860 thousand euros was requested from the municipalities, while in the two-year period 2020/2021 the requests stood at almost 370 thousand euros . More than half of the total compensation is spent on damages reported in the Municipalities of Sassari and Alghero alone, from which the highest number of requests are also received. From the "constantly increasing" populations as stated in the plan, it also emerges that "hunting activity is not sufficient to contain this growth trend". Another growing figure is that of road accidents which went from 150 in 2014 to 248 in 2019 until the surge in 2021 when the Plan recorded 400".

MOBILITATION – For Battista Cualbu , president of Coldiretti Sardinia: « This situation is unsustainable for our breeders and farmers as well as for the communities themselves in our territories . The consequence we see every day is that of destroyed crops and crosses on our roads, a change of pace is needed in the management of this phenomenon."

«The mobilization of Coldiretti Sardinia is aimed – echoes the regional director Luca Saba – to put an end to inertia where effective containment and monitoring plans have not been approved, also through a coordination office» to definitively address the problem.

(Unioneonline/lf)

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