There is also alarm in Sardinia due to the raids carried out by "uncontrolled fauna" and in particular by wild boars, which at a national level have reached a population of 2.3 million specimens and which in the last year have caused damage amounting to 200 million euros Italian agriculture.

Coldiretti took the worrying photograph of the devastation that wild boars cause to vineyards and olive groves, but also pastures and meadows, corn and cereal fields, sunflower and vegetable crops.

According to the association , the situation in Sardinia is "critical", especially close to protected areas.

However, the most affected regions are Puglia , with over 30 million euros and 250 thousand wild boars, and Tuscany with over 20 million of which 80% are due to the presence of around 200 thousand wild boars.

Coldiretti, which has called a series of meetings dedicated to the problem in all its local sections, also complains about the delay in compensation to farmers, which often arrive after many years and only in small part. In fact, the association underlines, "they never cover the real value of the destroyed product, with the consequence that many give up on reporting".

But - the farmers point out - wild boars and wild fauna are also the cause of accidents: 170 in 2023, according to an analysis of Asaps data, an increase of 8% compared to the previous year.

And to this is added the alarm of the African swine fever, not transmissible to humans, which wild boars, Coldiretti recalls, risk spreading in the countryside, endangering pig farms and with them a sector which, between production and related industries, is worth around 20 billion euros and employs one hundred thousand people.

Hence the request to the institutions «to put an immediate stop to the proliferation of wild animals, giving farmers the opportunity to defend their lands. In fact, extraordinary regional containment plans are missing."

(Unioneonline/lf)

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