Fifty-five associations, including Salviamo L’Orso, sent an urgent letter to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to denounce political maneuvering between the government and majority aimed at introducing changes to hunting regulations through the Budget Law, an instrument deemed “absolutely improper” in subject matter and purpose and already exploited in 2023.
According to the letter, some members of the majority, in an operation presumably agreed upon with the executive, intend to include in the form of amendments to the Budget Law some passages of Bill AS 1552, currently under discussion in the Senate, which aims to deregulate hunting activity.
The associations warn that the proposed amendments deal with extremely sensitive issues of wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation, including providing for the hunting of birds during pre-productive migration and the capture of small wild birds for use as live decoys.
The measures also include:
– the potential extension of hunting activity into traditionally excluded areas, including state-owned areas, state or public forests, and other territories now restricted;
– Reducing the weight of the technical-scientific opinion of independent bodies such as ISPRA in the definition of huntable species and the hunting calendar, with more room for decision-making given to political or administrative bodies;
– Changes to the time limits of hunting activity, with possible openings during sensitive periods for wildlife reproduction;
– the inclusion of these regulations through amendments in the budget maneuver, with criticism from associations for the misuse of the budget instrument for regulatory and environmental issues.
It is our shared opinion with the colleagues of the signatory associations that the proposed changes constitute serious violations of the European “Birds” Directive, already the cause in the past of infringement procedures and condemnations against Italy by the Court of Justice of the European Union, later resolved precisely thanks to the rules that now want to be amended. In this regard, we would like to recall the recent poaching episode involving two Hermit Ibis, a critically endangered species and the protagonist of a reintroduction project in our country, which were shot dead in the Lecco area after only an hour’s flight within Italy’s borders.
The organizations recall, moreover, that such amendments would conflict with Article 9 of the Constitution, which recognizes the protection of biodiversity among the fundamental principles of the Republic. The inclusion of such regulations in the Budget Law, they denounce, would represent a distorted use of the legislative instrument, which by its nature should deal exclusively with economic and financial matters. But the government, as has been clear for months now, cherishes the interests of the hunting lobby more than nature’s right to (r)exist. In this regard, it is also worth noting that according to a report published by Legambiente in 2022, Between 2009 and 2020, the following were ascertained in Italy. 35,500 offenses, 2,960 each year, almost 250 per month. Acts carried out against nature and, consequently, against each of us.
As if this were not enough, should we decide to proceed by including amendments to the Framework Law on Wildlife and Hunting (L.157/92) in the Budget Law, we could also incur yet another European infringement procedure (INFR(2023)2187) against Italy.
For these reasons, the 55 associations appeal to the Head of State requesting his intervention to protect the Constitution, procedural fairness and democratic principles, calling on him to dissuade the government from pursuing an initiative deemed detrimental in form and substance to environmental protection and the fundamental values of the Republic.