The foundational prohibition of parks: hunting

No Hunting in Parks

In Piedmont, Regional Law No. 19/2009, in Article 8, states that "In protected areas established and classified as a natural park and a nature reserve, the following bans shall apply: a) exercise of hunting activities; b) introduction and use by private individuals of weapons, explosives, and any destructive or capture means, unless specifically authorized."

Hunting to survive or hunting for sport?

For over a million years, human beings and their hominid ancestors have been hunter-gatherers. This means that they resorted to hunting for sustenance, even though studies have shown that game consumption served to supplement a diet mainly consisting of wild vegetables and fruits collected in nature. Then, 12,500 years ago, the Neolithic revolution began when Homo sapiens in various parts of the world started producing their own food through agriculture and animal husbandry. A very important turning point that allowed our ancestors to significantly improve their diet and therefore increase the survival rate with a clear rise in the global population. In general, cultivating food is a much more economical activity than procuring it and allows men and women to live in a settled manner and save time and energy to dedicate to other activities such as craftsmanship, culture, and the arts. Yet, the practice of hunting has survived to this day even in areas of the earth where food is produced in abundance using industrial techniques. Perhaps because we, as human beings, are at the top of the food chain, and for over 99% of our evolutionary history, we have been predators of other species? Today, we can therefore affirm that hunting primarily represents a recreational and commercial activity, although it also has some ecological value in defending certain environments and protecting human activities such as agriculture from the excessive proliferation of wild species. These are the fundamental principles contained in Law 157/1992 entitled "Rules for the protection of homeothermic wildlife and for hunting outings," which in Article 1 defines wildlife as the state's inalienable heritage, thus interpreting hunting as a concession regulated by specific laws that the state recognizes for its citizens.

The harms of hunting and the birth of parks

In the Italian legal system, the practice of hunting carried out in a responsible and respectful manner of the regulations is a legitimate custom, but we must not forget that in the past it was carried out indiscriminately, leading to significant ecological damage, including the extinction of numerous species. The first National Park established in Italy was the Gran Paradiso, created in 1922 specifically to protect the ibex, which was at risk of disappearing precisely because of hunting. Closer to us, in the territories of the Cozie Alps Protected Areas, humans progressively eliminated the main predators including bears, lynxes, wolves, numerous raptors, and ungulates. Only chamois survived the period of intense hunting pressure during World War II when hunting represented an economic source of food supply for local populations. Deer, roe deer, and wild boars that we can observe in the woods and mountains were reintroduced starting from the 1960s for hunting purposes, while the ibexes from the late 1980s to the 90s for scientific reasons. The ban on hunting in national parks, regional parks, and nature reserves therefore represents a fundamental principle for the protection, conservation, and restoration of the ecological heritage. Without forgetting the ethical and moral considerations: in areas where work is done to ensure the survival of animal and plant species, resorting to cruel methods should be an extreme consequence.

Wildlife management and selective culling

Let's address this issue using a story. After the establishment of the Gran Bosco di Salbertrand Natural Park, the number of deer previously reintroduced grew excessively, compromising the natural renewal of the forest and shrub flora. It was necessary to proceed with selective culling to contain the ungulate population until the mid-1990s when the wolf naturally returned, also extinct due to hunting, and continued its natural role taken over by the Park Authority. A beautiful example of how the creation of the Park and the hunting ban allowed the ecological balance that reigned over these mountains before human activities led to the disappearance of wolves and deer to be restored. One of the main tasks of a Park Authority may involve the need to resort to selective culling to contain species whose excessive population compromises the ecological balance of a habitat. This type of wildlife management differs from actual hunting because it can only be carried out in specific cases: for proven scientific reasons, to preserve a richer biodiversity, to contain damages to agricultural activities, forest resources, and watercourses, to limit the development of diseases and the spread of alien species. It also requires a specific opinion from Ispra and must not have a recreational purpose but takes place under close supervision and the responsibility of the Managing Authority. To give another concrete example, there is currently a culling program underway in the Cozie Alps Parks to control the wild boar population and the spread of African swine fever under the coordination of the Piedmont Region.

Hunting in Natura 2000 sites

In 2014, the Piedmont Region resolved on the "Conservation measures for the protection of the Natura 2000 network of Piedmont" with the aim of identifying obligations, prohibitions, and best practices to maintain ecosystems and animal and plant species of community interest identified in the European Union's Habitat and Birds Directives in a favorable conservation state. These regulations include some limitations on hunting activity for the defense of the prioritized fauna. In all sites, that is, in Special Conservation Areas (SCAs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), hunting for the European hare and the rock partridge is prohibited, except in areas where a favorable conservation status is monitored and verified, in addition to hunts and chases with more than 4 dogs. Also, to prevent lead poisoning affecting especially species at the top of the food chain and scavengers, lead ammunition is prohibited in all wetland, lake, and river environments. In the SPAs identified in compliance with the Birds Directive, additional limitations are enforced for bird protection, whereby even in hunting ungulates, the use of lead-containing bullets is prohibited, or alternatively, it is mandatory to make the viscera of the hunted animals inaccessible to protect mainly vultures and lammergeiers from poisoning deaths.

A hunt without prey?

It is said that a true hunter loves the hunt more than the prey. After all, the killing of an animal is only the final act of a very complex and engaging activity, which presupposes an in-depth study of the species, its behaviors, and habits, matured through long stakeouts in nature to observe the wild creature, without disturbing it, in its interaction with the surrounding environment. These are all activities that can also be carried out in a park, excluding the violent gesture. Indeed, especially in a park where animals feel safer and can be observed more easily. Many human beings are naturally attracted and intrigued by wildlife: we do not know if it is an instinct derived from our long history of hunter-gatherers or a cultural and scientific interest, or even a curiosity of a playful nature. Parks are the places where these needs can be met in respect of all living beings inhabiting them.