Neonicotinoids (neonics) are the most widely used insecticides globally. They are used on more than 140 crop varieties to control a variety of pests especially sap-feeding insects, such as aphids and root-feeding grubs. They are also common in veterinary applications such as tick control and flea collars for pets.
They are a relatively new type of insecticide. The first, imidacloprid, was launched by Bayer Cropscience in 1991. Since then a further six compounds have been put on the global market. By 2008, neonicotinoids had taken a 24% share of the total insecticide market of €6.330 billion.
Neonics are systemic pesticides. Unlike contact pesticides, which remain on the surface of the treated foliage, systemic pesticides are taken up by the plant and transported to all its tissues (leaves, flowers, roots and stems, as well as pollen and nectar). Products containing neonics can be applied at the root (as seed coating or soil drench) or sprayed onto crop foliage. The insecticide toxin remains active in the plant for many weeks, protecting the crop from pests season-long.
Between 2000 and 2016, the weight of neonicotinoids applied to all crops in the UK increased from 26,404kg to 87,704kg – an increase of 232%.
In 2018, the UK Government supported restrictions on the neonicotinoid pesticides across the European Union due to the very clear harm that they were causing to bees and other wildlife. The then Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, promised that the Government would maintain these restrictions unless the scientific evidence changed. The evidence has not changed – indeed, the devastating impact this group of pesticides is having on our wildlife has increased, and hardly a month goes by without yet more evidence of the wider ecological crisis. Academic and author, Professor Dave Goulson, has warned that one teaspoon of neonic is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees, equivalent to four lorryloads.
The Government has stated that authorised applications will have strict conditions to ensure that wildlife is not harmed, but this assertion does not stand up to scrutiny. The authorisation allows “seed-dressing” of sugar beet crops with neonicotinoid pesticides, a method of application that results in only 5% of the pesticide going where it is targeted, in the crop. The rest ends up accumulating in the soil, from where it can be absorbed by the roots of wildflowers and hedgerow plants, or can leach into rivers and streams where it could harm over 3,800 invertebrate species, which spend at least part of their life cycle in freshwater.
Want to make a change? Sign the petition here to reinstate the ban on neonicotinoids!
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/563943
Want to take further action? here is a template email to send to your local MP!
"Dear Sir/Madam,
I’ve just signed the Wildlife Trusts’ petition urging the Prime Minister to overturn the decision to allow a derogation to the use of the neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, for English sugar beet farmers. You may know the sugar industry and National Farmers Union lobbied the Government for this, in secret.
I am sure you will have already seen that there is huge opposition to this from members of the public like myself, as well as the environmental sector. The decision goes against all commitments this Government has made to help nature - including an explicit pledge to keep pesticide restrictions after Brexit. It invalidates pledges around nature’s recovery made less than six months ago. And it crushes the Government’s stated vision for tackling the biodiversity crisis.
I recognise that this authorisation is for emergency use. Unfortunately with climate change set to increase the frequency of warmer and wetter winters in the UK, boosting the number of aphids which spread the sugar beet virus, there is a significant risk that emergency authorisation could become a common occurrence and the UK could see the return of routine application of neonicotinoid pesticides. Even worse, it seems to force a binary choice between dealing with the plight of farmers and the plight of bees and wild pollinators.
I support the Wildlife Trusts’ view that farmers should not have to choose between farming and nature. They should be given assistance to adopt non-chemical alternatives that are proven to support nature long-term. I urge you to oppose the Government’s authorisation of neonicotinoid pesticides and to make your voice heard on this issue, on behalf of alarmed constituents like myself. Whether you raise this issue in Parliament, share your concerns on social media or discuss neonicotinoids with Ministers and other MPs, I hope I can count on you to protect the bees and other wildlife that will be at risk due to the Government’s decision.
Please do what you can to help. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS"
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