False accusations continue to be spread to hide the real speculation: that of European subsidies that fatten some fake breeders.
As the Sulmona Public Prosecutor's Office continues to investigate the poisonings that killed 21 wolves and other wildlife in April, both within and outside the boundaries of the Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park (hereinafter PNALM), a certain nervousness is evident among some individuals who call themselves representatives of the farming community. They are attempting to divert public attention from the incident by bringing up other issues, once again demonstrating their bad faith.
Specifically, regarding the recent and unfounded statements made publicly via social media and web platforms by Mr. Dino Rossi and several individuals associated with the "Ruralpini" movement—regarding the alleged receipt of AGEA contributions by the PNALM for pasture leasing—it is all too easy to demonstrate their falsity, re-establishing the truth to prevent the spread of misinformation and urban legends artfully created by those who, for years, have been living like parasites on the entire community's pastures.
Total transparency and zero AGEA funding
The accusations leveled against the Authority are the result of profound technical ignorance or, worse, blatant bad faith. The Park's budget, both in its preliminary and final form, is a public, certified document, freely accessible to anyone. This possibility evidently escaped Mr. Rossi's notice, but not those of us at Salviamo L'Orso. The accounting data reveal an unequivocal truth: the Park Authority has never requested or received a single cent of AGEA contributions or any other assistance measure calculated on the surface area of the hectares managed.
The Authority's administrative transparency is complete and leaves no room for fanciful interpretations. The Park leases some areas owned by municipalities, some wooded, others used for grazing, always with the consent of the municipalities themselves, which from these leases earn far more than the paltry grazing paid by the farmers. The sole purpose of this is to conserve natural environments, which, in some cases, can be devastated and obliterated by overgrazing. Moreover, it would be appropriate to remind Mr. Rossi that nature conservation is the very mission of the Authority.
The challenge of transparency in tax-exempt funds
Having rejected the falsity of the accusations, we would instead like to shift the focus of the debate, calling on Rossi and his associates to demonstrate similar transparency. It would be extremely useful, and in the public interest, to understand how much public funding, entirely tax-exempt, has been received over the years by those now making these trumped-up accusations.
We publicly invite proponents of "mountain traditions" to disclose their corporate balance sheets, clearly showing the true relationship between private capital invested in the area and the amount of non-repayable grants received from the European Union for compensatory allowances.
The complaint: a drugged market that harms the true shepherds
The real problem with managing the highlands isn't the Park's protection efforts, but the financial speculation that threatens to stifle the real mountain economy. It's time to undertake a serious cost-benefit analysis of the management of collective pastures and civic uses.
The current mechanism allows a few "privileged" individuals to pay paltry concession fees—a few dozen euros per head—in exchange for disproportionate economic returns paid by Europe based on mere area, often for herds left in the wild with almost zero living costs. This isn't pastoralism: it's financial speculation that distorts the land market and deprives true shepherds of vital resources.
Save the Bear and I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf will continue to defend the latter against those who use the mountains solely as a tool for parasitic income to the detriment of the community. They will continue to emphasize, in regional and national political circles, the need to revise the entire system of contributions, which has now become a waste of public money diverted from other, more useful purposes for the inland and Apennine areas.