Wildlife as State property, territory divided into ATC
Act 157/1992 makes wildlife inalienable State property; hunting is a concession and the territory is divided into hunting districts.
Italian hunting rests on Act No. 157 of 11 February 1992, «Norme per la protezione della fauna selvatica omeoterma e per il prelievo venatorio». Its Article 1 lays down a structural principle: «La fauna selvatica è patrimonio indisponibile dello Stato ed è tutelata nell'interesse della comunità nazionale ed internazionale» — wildlife is inalienable property of the State, protected in the interest of the national and international community. Hunting is therefore not a right attached to land ownership as in Germany, but a concession the State grants to citizens meeting the legal requirements (Art. 12(1)). The territory is organised by the regions, which divide the agricultural, forest and pastoral land assigned to planned hunting into ambiti territoriali di caccia (ATC), sub-provincial in size and bounded as far as possible by natural features (Art. 14). The regions then adopt the calendar and rules for each season.