Wildlife

Tyrolean government also invests in herd protection

The Tyrolean coalition in Austria has published their government programme for the period 2018 to 2023. In this agreement, the coalition confirms that it supports and finances herd protection in the province. Tyrol follows the South Tyrolean government in Italy to acknowledge the need to invest and implement proper herd management. This will enable a sustainable coexistence of livestock and wildlife in both short- and long-term.

Please also read: South Tyrolean Government investing up to €1 million in Sheep Herd Management

Financing herd protection and unbureaucratic compensation

The coalition agreement states to address:

The protection of pastural and grazing animals from large carnivores as a special concern. Therefore, the financing of herd protection measures and unbureaucratic compensation payments by the public sector should be carried out.

Original: “Den Schutz der Alm– und Weidetiere vor großen Beutegreifern als ein besonderes Anliegen. Daher ist die Finanzierung von Herdenschutzmaßnahmen und unbürokratischen Schadensabgeltungen seitens der öffentlichen Hand vorzunehmen.”

Following the facts

Proper herd management is a key component, especially now that large carnivores like the wolf return to many corners of Europe. The protection measures to implement proper herd management show their effectiveness in different countries. For example, Switzerland has been pioneering in the usage of guard dogs, in Germany shepherds, dogs and fences decrease wolf depredation (almost) to zero. Furthermore, scientists showed that herd management is more effective than killing wolves. Instead, people must focus on practical implementation and compensation systems. One of the best examples is a shepherdess in the middle of the Swiss Calanda wolf pack territory.

Wolf return helps, not threatens

There is opposition against the return of the wolf, which is supposedly threatening the traditional alpine herds. However, the return is one of the best developments that farmers, shepherds, hunters and even politicians can ask for. Because it shows the gaps in current legislative systems and the need for financial and material support. Rural populations will support politicians who financially help the people. The hunters see how the wolf helps to regulate the overpopulation of deer and boar, which benefits forest conditions. And livestock owners and shepherds will be able to continue their work with proper tools and measures, keeping traditions alive in a sustainable coexistence with wildlife. Consequently, because of alpine grazing, biodiversity will continue to flourish. If coexistence existed for hundreds of years in some European countries, why wouldn’t it also be possible in the other countries.

As the Tyrolean governmental coalition states:

With the preservation of protective forests and the management of alpine pastures, Tyrolean farmers also make an important contribution to the protection of settlement areas and the preservation of biodiversity.

Original: “Mit der Pflege von Schutzwäldern und der Bewirtschaftung von Almflächen leisten Tirols Bäuerinnen und Bauern darüber hinaus einen wichtigen Beitrag zum Schutz von Siedlungsgebieten und zum Erhalt der Artenvielfalt.”

You find the full Tyrolean governmental programme below:

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4 thoughts on “Tyrolean government also invests in herd protection

  • Just to know something about see the link

  • It is not clear about differences and common feelings between the Austrian Tyrol and the Italian Tyrol, the Alto Adige Province of Bolzano. You could specify more using the official names to be more clear in future, as is wanted by the trilingual provincial local administration. That province and Its region is known in Italy to have very nice but also very bad environment policies. I.e.: they have a special law allowing hunting in local protected areas. Unique regional case in Italy. They have pushed the Italian national administration to delete the historical National Park of Stelvio mountain dating back 1935, in this way they can play hunting freely and not only. After the abolition of this park they changed it into some local parks. In their portion, they quickly started to make new roads, and so… They are one of the Italian portions to have changed the national forestry and environmental police with a small local one, controlled directly from the Province with a full conflict of interest because the province in that case is the only one controller and sometimes is the controller and the controlled subject at teh same time… In this region some problems have been about marmots, bears, wolves, unwanted by local administrators that have declared that territory is too anthropized to be suitable for these animals. They continue to use public money to finance sky, hotels, forest logging, pastures, etc.. They authorized also the deforestation of forests never deleted before in the history, to make cultivations and pastures in last decades. They have in any case still few wild corner but under-posed to urbanization and anthropization, one example is the lower Fiscalina Valley… etc It would be nice to understand how this, in the article; could change these problems, and discuss about these problems in different points of views…

  • Apparently Austrian Tyrolean and their Italian cousins in the Alto Adige/South Tyrol are remarkably opposite in their thinking and management actions fortunately for the Austrians

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