The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has called for a ban in the use of nerve-agent pesticides widely linked to decline in bee numbers around the world.
The agents, known as Neonicotinoids, should no longer be used on crops which attract bees and other pollinating insects they claim.
Specifically, the charity is calling on our globalist Government to support a proposed EU ban on the three most common neonicotinoid products.
This follows mounting evidence which indicates links between the use of the toxic chemicals and the collapse in colonies of bees.
The largest manufacturers of these substance are agribusiness giants Bayer and Syngenta.
In support of their demand the RSPB points to more than 30 separate scientific studies, conducted within the last three years, that suggest diverse negative effects on insects from neonicotinoids use.
Only last month the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a scientific opinion recommending that the three main neonicotinoid products should not be used on crops attractive to bees.
A spokesman for the RSPB said yesterday: “We’ve been reviewing the science for a long time, and scientists are telling us that neonicotinoids might be killing bees.
“Everyone is basically coming to the same conclusion: there’s a real and present danger on crops that are attracting bees because these substances are present in the pollen and the nectar. We have come to the conclusion that the risk is not acceptable.”
It is thought that the RSPB intervention (the charity having around a million members), will put significant pressure on our normally agribusiness subservient Government to go along with a recommendation from the European Commission that the products should be banned.
Incredibly, despite the proliferation of evidence suggesting a link between neonicotinoids and colony collapse, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has refused even to consider suspending or banning the substances – presumably because of the effect such a move would have on the profit margins of the manufacturers.
Furthermore, in what is seen in some quarters as a “white-washing/time wasting” tactic, Defra has now commissioned its own research into the impact of neonicotinoids on bees. It is also reported as waiting on the results of further field studies.
The key vote will be taken during a meeting of the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
If successful the use of the three neonicotinoids will be restricted to winter cereals and other crops that are not attractive to bees.
Commonsense would suggest that the Government should exercise caution and provisionally ban the use of these substances, pending the results of further research. Either the Government fails to understand the vital role played by insects in the pollination of fruit and cereal crops, or they are placing the interests of the corporate agribusiness giants ahead of the environment and, ultimately, sound sustainable agriculture.
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The latest is that the European Commission has decided to postpone voting on a partial ban of neonicotinoids until March 14, or 15. This follows heavy lobbying by Syngenta and Bayer CropScience who stand to bear heavy losses if the ban comes into force, as it currently is in France. Nice to see coverage of this important story in the nationalist media.
Off topic but how is the new website coming along.