3, 2, 1… the training courses for the first national monitoring of wolves in Italy have been launched

In observance of the measures for the containment of the Covid-19 virus, the training of new monitoring operators has started. The new monitoring operators will be involved from October onwards in the first national monitoring of the wolf species coordinated by ISPRA throughout Italy and entrusted to the LIFE WolfAlps EU project for the Alpine regions.

Today in Chiusa Pesio (CN), at the headquarters of the Marguareis Natural Park, the first training event was held, which involved about 120 new operators, including the Carabinieri Forestali, staff from the Provinces and the Hunting Areas and a selection of super motivated volunteers.

It was an intense day, between frontal lessons (indoors) and practical tests (in the field) entrusted to the operators of the WolfAlps EU LIFE Project and the staff of the Protected Areas of the Maritime Alps to teach how to recognise, collect, geo-reference the signs of presence and documented sightings in a standardised way and without danger to the safety of the operators.

From the Maritime Alps to Friuli Venezia Giulia, the training courses will cover the entire Italian Alps. For the first time, in Piedmont, the new frontiers of wolf expansion outside the Alpine area will also be monitored in the foothills and at low altitudes. The next appointment is tomorrow, 15 September, in Avigliana (TO), with the coordination of the Protected Areas of the Cottian Alps and the Metropolitan City of Turin.