Damage caused by wild boars and wolves, forest cleaning, bureaucracy, delays in project payments, and the cutting of wasteland for grazing were concerns highlighted by participants in the "Talk about Forest" meeting.

“We are pointing the way towards controlling wild boar densities, which is a concern in this area and especially in the North and Center of the country,” said the Secretary of State, Rui Ladeira, who participated in the initiative promoted by PSD deputies elected by the district of Vila Real, Alberto Machado and Amílcar Almeida.

The official specified that the Government will make “a change” to an article of the decree-law that regulates hunting to reduce bureaucracy, simplify and allow “organisations and hunters to have a more active intervention in controlling densities" and " seek to reduce this problem.”

In Trás-os-Montes, there have been increasing complaints from farmers about the damage caused by wild boars to their agricultural production.

At issue is article 88 of the decree-law and this change, according to the government official, aims to control wild boar density throughout the year.

For this change, the Government is consulting organisations and local authorities and, if the response is favourable, the measure will be implemented immediately.

Because this measure alone “doesn't solve everything”, Rui Ladeira said that the hunting law will be revisited on other issues and also highlighted the need for the country to value larger game meat, such as, for example, wild boar.

At the meeting, complaints were also heard regarding compensation payments for wolf attacks on livestock and the requirements that must be met to be entitled to compensation payments, namely livestock dogs or fences. Communication of the attack also began to be done online.

“There are measures here like the wolf that do not directly depend on the State Secretariat for Forestry, but which received a good rating and naturally have an impact on the territory, because when we talk about forests we are talking about agriculture, we are talking about grazing, we are talking of territorial management and territorial cohesion”, replied Rui Ladeira, noting that this is a responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment.

In turn, the regional director of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) in the North, Sandra Sarmento, said that “around 90%” of reported attack cases are paid, admitting delays in payments, an issue that is to be regularised.

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