The General Secretariat of Forests has issued instructions in the context of taking measures to control the population of wild boars and their hybrids in order to address the impacts caused by their overpopulation on agriculture, public safety and biodiversity.
The instructions were issued following letters from institutional representatives of the local government, other professional bodies in the primary sector and citizens regarding the presence of a large population of wild boars and their hybrids in the country’s territory, as well as the repeated incidents of their approach to residential areas and the road network, with the consequent increased risk of accidents and the threatened damage to agricultural production.
As mentioned above, the management of the overpopulation of wild boars is a priority for the central and regional forestry services, both due to the aforementioned incidents of their interaction with human activities throughout the country, and due to the particularly large losses caused to agricultural and livestock farms in certain geographical regions of the country.
The General Secretariat of Forests, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Veterinary Medicine of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and through the change in the legal framework for the hunting of this species, has already defined the framework for cooperation between the jointly competent services and the Hunting Organizations, so that joint actions (operation of hunting teams and groups of hunters) can be undertaken in a coordinated and effective manner for the hunting of wild boars, without restrictions on harvesting, with priority given to areas where increased populations of wild boars and damage to primary production are recorded.
The regional Forest Services (Forest Departments and Forest Directorates without Forest Departments) which participate in the planning and implementation of actions for the control of the population of wild boars and their hybrids at the level of their territorial competence, must mandatorily activate the prosecution teams provided for in the Forest Code and the hunting groups, intensifying the hunting of wild boars and their hybrids with the aim of reducing their population.
It is recalled that, by way of exception to the current regulations, hunting of wild boars is permitted throughout the year for reasons of public health, imperative public interest, animal health and protection, as well as for reasons of protection of agricultural production and prevention of serious damage to crops, by adhering to special procedures and conditions.
Furthermore, it is noted that special actions should be undertaken by the Local Government to inform citizens (mainly visitors), especially in tourist areas or islands that receive a large number of visitors, where information signs should be placed on the road network or bilingual brochures, etc. should be printed, to inform visitors who travel in forest areas using the existing infrastructure or rent vehicles of various types, about the possibility of interaction or accident due to the presence of large mammals (wild boars or deer, etc.).
