Sustainable hunting plan as a tool of wildlife management: the Italian case

Sustainable hunting plan is an interesting tool for managing game species in order to avoid potential conflicts with other ecosystem services (biodiversity conservation, recreation and the preservation of economies and cultures in rural areas). If wildlife population increases too much, natural ecosystems functionality can be threatened by ungulates' browsing and grubbing. Conversely, when species conservation is at risk, the hunting itself needs to be limited. Sustainable hunting plans can managed emerging conflicts. The aim of this study is to analyze hunting in Italy - through the provision of up-to-date statistics - in order to inform local planners and managers for the developing of local sustainable hunting plans. The results show that the main hunted large mammals species are wild boar in Central Italy and red deer and roe deer in North Italy, while the main hunted small mammals are wild rabbit and European hare.