***Update to news article below, 9 March 2021:
The Wildlife Trusts are relieved that the Government will not be granting an emergency authorisation for the use of a banned neonicotinoid on sugar beet this year. The Government had previously agreed to authorise the use of the bee-killing pesticide thiamethoxam to combat a virus that affects sugar beet, but after an uncharacteristically cold January and February the levels of the virus were not high enough to meet the threshold for its use. While The Wildlife Trusts are pleased that the Government will not be authorising use of this highly damaging chemical this year, this ‘stay of execution’ does not change the underlying issue – that the neonicotinoid could be allowed in the future, with potentially devastating impacts on UK wildlife. ***
Suffolk Wildlife Trust is alarmed to learn that the Government has agreed to authorise the use of the highly damaging neonicotinoid thiamethoxam as a treatment for sugar beet seed in 2021 in response to the possible threat of beet yellow virus. Whilst we fully empathise with the plight of farmers facing a potential crop loss, we strongly oppose this decision due to the toxicity of this chemical to all insect life. We must find sustainable alternatives.
The Wildlife Trusts have set up a WILDLIVE event to talk about this on Tuesday 19th January at 7pm – please do join us for the debate.
Sam Hanks, Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Farmland Wildlife Advisor, comments "The decline of insects is one of the most worrying threats to our wildlife, and the research on the use of neonicotinoids is unequivocal – using these seed treatments is harmful for insects beyond the boundary of the treated crop, even with the DEFRA recommended limitations to crop rotation, principally through soil and water contamination. We need to see better, ecologically based solutions at the forefront of controlling beet yellows virus without resorting to neonicotinoids."
The Secretary of State made the decision despite a similar application being refused in 2018 by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides because of unacceptable environmental risks.
In 2017, 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. In fact, we now know much more about the long-term harm these chemicals pose in our environment. Academic and author, Professor Dave Goulson, has warned that one teaspoon of neonic is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees – which would amount to four lorryloads.
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 into the crop, where it is intended. The vast majority 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 any of the 3,800 invertebrate species, which spend at least part of their life cycle in freshwater.
The authorisation also proposes applying weed killer to sugar beet fields to 'protect' bees by killing wildflowers that grow alongside the sugar beet - because flowering plants will have absorbed neonicotinoids (neonics) through the contaminated soil. Doing so would seriously harm already-threatened populations of wildflowers and the insects and other species that depend on them.
Joan Edwards, Director of Public Affairs at The Wildlife Trusts says:
"We will be writing to the Prime Minister requesting that he reverses the Secretary of State’s decision and focus support for farmers to adopt non-chemical alternatives so that agriculture supports nature and does not destroy it.
“Insect populations have suffered drastic declines in the UK – and these are set to have far-reaching consequences for both wildlife and people. Recent evidence suggests we have lost 50% or more of our insects since 1970, and 41% of the Earth's remaining five million insect species are now threatened with extinction. Insects are food for numerous larger animals including birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians and fish, and they perform vital roles for people too – such as pollination of crops and wildflowers, pest control and nutrient recycling.
"Instead, the Government should be focussing their efforts on regenerative farming approaches, supporting farmers to produce food while also having a positive effect on wildlife.
"Farmers are experiencing the impact of climate change and more extreme weather events including the mild winter last year, which fuelled the virus affecting sugar beet. Farmers need support to be resilient to climate change and to move to alternatives.
“It’s absurd that as the UK Government commits to spending £3bn of international climate finance on restoring nature and biodiversity, it is also approving the use of nature-destroying neonicotinoid pesticides here in the UK. The Prime Minister is right to say that we will not achieve our goals on climate change, sustainable development or preventing pandemics if we fail to take care of the natural world that provides us with the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. But the UK Government cannot claim to be a ‘world-leader’ on protecting and restoring nature whilst supporting the use of these damaging pesticides.”
You can ask the Prime Minster to reverse the decision by taking part in our e-petition here.
The Wildlife Trusts have further advice for people on taking action to help insects at home or in communities by becoming an insect champion at www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/action-insects
*See Defra press release Environment Secretary backs further restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides