One Planet News: New legislation to safeguard bees and butterflies
UK Government promises to ban neonicotinoids that harm pollinators
By Annette J Beveridge
BEE-HARMING pesticides may soon be a thing of the past but neonicotinoids (pesticides) utilised on crops such as sugar beet have had dire consequences.
Even the smallest trace of the chemical can disrupt a bee’s ability to navigate or to reproduce.
The pesticides were banned in 2018 but British Sugar required emergency usage for sugar beet - for four years in a row.
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Thiamethoxam is applied as a seed treatment. The chemical coats the seeds before planting. With this targeted approach, the idea is that wider environmental issues are reduced, however, just 5% of the chemical goes into the crop. The remaining 95% seeps into the soil where it is absorbed into the roots of the plants.
Virus yellow
Virus yellow is a disease spread by aphids and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) authorised the usage of neonicotinoids to combat this virus. Risks to bumblebees occur through the leaching of the active ingredient into the wildlife flowers around field margins.
On Monday, December 23, the government promised ‘to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides’ that threaten bees and will be looking at legislative options that will legally prevent all future use of three neonicotinoids.
A future complete ban would include products that contain clothianidin, imidacloprid or thiamethoxam.
The truth about neonicotinoids
Neonicotinoids translates as new nicotine-like insecticides’ because the chemical composition resembles nicotine. While the pesticide is regarded as effective, there is a dark secret regarding its true impact where it can lead to environmental degradation and the collapse of pollinator populations.
Repeated use poses a very real danger to bees, and birds and to the wider environment. When used on some crops, toxic pollen can be produced. It poisons pollinating insects, targeting the nervous system.
This leads to shaking, paralysis and even, death.
An application for emergency use in 2025 by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and British Sugar is still to be considered under existing laws. Although the NFU has stated this is a ‘worrying precedent’ wildlife organisations are happy about the announcement.
Environment minister Emma Hardy said stopping their use was "an important step in supporting the long-term health of our environment and waterways, and our farming sector.’
Neonicotinoids can also have a detrimental impact on human health. Due to the loss of biodiversity, precious ecosystems can be degraded which are vital for our well-being including soil fertility and water purification.
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