Project

Problem

The presence of wildlife is becoming more and more significant in Tuscany (and in many other Italian regions), causing serious damage to agro-forestry entrepreneurs, with consequent loss of income. The most striking species are the wild boar (70% of the damage), the roe deer and the deer (a total of 20% of the damage).

The damage from wild ungulates can be contrasted with many different systems, from individual protections to individual plants (shelters) to extended perimeter methods (mesh or electric fences) more or less localized (olfactory dissuasors, etc.), which however have shown so far a fairly limited effectiveness, high installation and management costs (controls, maintenance, etc.) and a not negligible environmental impact.

Solution

The Strategic Plan consists in the application on a local scale in 3 target areas of Tuscany (hill, flatland and mountains) and on 3 different agro-forestry productions (vine, vegetables, afforestation and replanting of new green areas), characterized by significant damage caused by wild ungulates, of an innovative ultrasonic device that allows effective removal from wild ungulates, without causing them any harm and eliminating or greatly reducing the disadvantages of other methods, while ensuring economic / financial sustainability, ecological balances and landscape values.

Goals

The general objective of the ULTRAREP project is the experimentation of an ultrasonic system to protect crops attacked by wild ungulates.

The project also includes models for monitoring the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the new systems and the transfer of the experience gained in other areas of Tuscany and to other Operational Groups within the National Rural Network and the European Innovation Partnership in Agriculture (PEI-Agri).

Expected results

  • Reduction in the number and extent of damage suffered by farmers due to wild ungulates (wild boar, deer, roe deer)
  • Reduction of reimbursements granted by the Public Administration to farmers who suffer damage from wild ungulates

The operational objectives of the project

  1. Protection of agricultural and forestry activities in situations of conflict with wild ungulate fauna
  2. Detection of the activity of ungulates in the various protected areas
  3. Extraction by interpolation of false-color mapping of the activity of the animals on the territory
  4. Monitoring of the operating conditions and the effectiveness of the device in critical environmental conditions (heat, rain, intense cold, snow, etc.) in order to be able to replicate the use of the devices in other homologous locations of Tuscany
  5. Possibility of using a user interface accessible via web for monitoring devices with reference to activity status and battery charge level
  6. Study of the economic, social, environmental and tourist effects that can be obtained with the massive application of the devices; territorial planning for protection from ungulates extended to the whole of the Tuscany Region; transfer of experience through RRN and EIP-AGRI work tables.

Activities

WORK PACKAGES

RESPONSIBLE/S

1. Coordination and Animation of the Operational Group

BARONE RICASOLI company (farm holder)

2. Development of a new UAR prototype (Ultrasound Animal Repeller) and experimentation in 3 target areas (5 pilot companies) on wine, horticultural and green areas

NATECH SRL

Pilot companies:

  • BARONE RICASOLI company (farm holder)
  • AGRICOLA SAN FELICE company (farm holder)
  • DELL’AGNELLO company (farm holder)
  • MEINI company (farm holder)
  • NATIONAL PARK OF CASENTINO FORESTS

3. Impact verification of frequencies on non-target species (bats and corvids)

WWF AREZZO

PAVIA UNIVERSITY

4.New IT structure accessible via web, monitoring and transfer of innovation. Technological and agronomic validation and monitoring of socio-economic and environmental impacts.

CNIT – National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications

5. Dissemination of project results

ERATA (Regional Agency for Technical Assistance in Agriculture of Confagricoltura Toscana)

PARTNERS

Farm Holders

Research

Advisory / Training

Others