Protecting the environment and biodiversity
GRI - G4: SO2

Safeguarding biodiversity (GRI - G4: EN12, EN14)

2013 was the ninth and penultimate year of fauna monitoring at the Val Alba regional nature reserve, along the Malborghetto - Bordano section of the methane pipeline. The ten-year monitoring programme has taken place in accordance with the requirement contained in the environmental compatibility decree that the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea had issued in 2002 to authorise the building of the infrastructure.

The decree specifically stipulated the execution of monitoring for a ten-year period of faunal dynamics for significant zoological groups in the Site of Community Importance (SIC): the Val Alba regional nature reserve includes the “Zuc dal Bor” SIC, which is crossed by the Malborghetto - Bordano methane pipeline.

The results of the two-year period 2012-2013 were processed in 2013; 2014 will be the tenth and final year of fauna monitoring, and a special final report will be drawn up to conclude this decade of observation.

The section of pipeline monitored is located within the Val Alba nature reserve, which has natural beech woods alongside spruce forests (spruce pine reforestation). Over a period, the spruce pines replaced some open areas originally used for pasture. There are still some old Alpine huts in the reserve, that were used as “cheese caves” for on-site processing of the milk produced by the herd during the summer pasture season. The methane pipeline runs through the valley for a short stretch between the southern opening of the Galleria Chiavals and the northern opening of Galleria Masereit. Part of it runs alongside a forest road and all of it runs parallel to an existing methane pipeline. When work on the pipeline was completed, vegetation restoration work was carried out, with trees and shrubs planted (whitebeam, mountain ash, willow, poplar and mountain maple saplings, all native species produced by regional nurseries), as well as grass. The ten-year monitoring of new ecosystems generated by revegetation work (monitoring of soil and vegetation), successfully completed in 2012, was also carried out.

As in previous years, in the two-year period 2012-2013 records of fauna within the monitoring area were also taken in all four seasons. The monitoring work focused on direct observations (sightings), calls, traces in the snow and droppings recorded (quality and quantity) using pellet count methods. In the spring of 2012 and the end of the summer of 2013, two four-week intensive monitoring sessions took place, using ten passive infrared video camera traps.

In 2013, the eight “hair trigger” camera traps placed in the field in previous years were kept active, in addition to the technical equipment for recording large carnivores. Overall, 133 hours of fauna recordings were made (tracks in snow, pellet counts and direct observations, including with the aid of a lamp).

In 2013, all of the recording techniques provided evidence of the presence of all the species previously recorded, i.e. nine species of mammal, namely deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), badgers (Meles meles), martens (Martes martes), stone martens (Martes foina), common hares (Lepus europaeus), variable hares (Lepus timidus), and four species of birds, namely golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), buzzards (Buteo buteo), tawny owls (Strix aluco) and grouse (Bonaria bonasia), which were among the surveyed species. There were also many species of birds that were not specifically surveyed.

The video camera traps alone recorded the following: 79 roe deer, 36 deer, 6 chamois, 11 foxes, 2 martens, 1 stone marten and 1 badger. There was a substantial increase in the presence of people (tourists) with at least 234 events recorded. The hair-trigger traps again showed no usable results for the species surveyed using these techniques (large carnivores such as bears, wolves and lynx).

The work performed largely confirms the trends seen in previous years. The situation for fauna, particularly the herbivores, has improved overall. Numbers of roe deer rose slightly, although this species is very dynamic and fluctuates continually. Numbers of deer again rose markedly, with either constant or higher reproductive events, while autumn belling decreased. This could have been caused by human disturbance, although no direct evidence of this was recorded. The chamois is still the only hoofed species that has not met its potential: the effects of repeated sarcoptic mange infections are apparent, and the population remains stable at low numbers. Among the small herbivores, numbers of white hares and common hares remained stable. The situation for small carnivores seems stable, with a slight upturn in fox numbers, although some cases of scabies – which inhibits the vitality of the population – were again recorded in 2013. There were again no recordings made of large carnivores (bears, wolves and lynx), although there was again evidence of their presence in the directly neighbouring areas.