Nowadays, the importance of bees for our Planet is a widely discussed topic. They pollinate more than 80% of crops and wild plants in Europe, allowing ecosystems to flourish. In a historical period where, global warming, sea level is rising, deforestation and air pollution at their peak, banning some pesticides in order to prevent bees extinction would have been very wise and relatively easy to enforce. That's why I was surprised when I found out that the EU has slowed down in enforcing a complete ban on pesticides harmful to bees.
It's been a long process, as matter of fact the the European Institutions are trying to enforce a full ban on bee harming pesticides since 2012. Specifically, there are more than many concerns regarding neonicotinoids. In 2018, the EU banned the most used insecticides, neonicotinoids, from all fields. The chemical components were found to cause a number of problems in bees. Among these, memory damage and reduction in queen numbers. However, there was an exemption included in the ban for greenhouses, which caused fear that the chemical could still wash out into watercourses.
In 2018 EFSA (European Food Safety Association) published an article concerting its concerns regarding bees' safety. Bees can get in contact to neonicotinoids in different ways, depending on the employment of the pesticide. The research state that in many cases bees gathering pollen close by treated crop, are likely to be exposed to dangerous levels of the neonicotinoid pesticides. This is mainly caused by pollen and nectar of the treated crop containing pesticide residues. This has direct consequences not only on honeybees but also on us, consumers. A research done in 2017 found out that 75 % of the planet’s honey contains neonicotinoids nowadays. A different research showed that 76% of flying insects in Germany’s parks have been lost in 30 years, while studies elsewhere show similar falls in other European countries.
These numbers are seriously worrying. Not only due to the critical role played by bees and other pollinators. These flying insects are absolutely critical to the health of the wild life. Without a proper pollinator population we seriously threat the entire ecological balance of our world. Official biodiversity indicators show that the pollinator population has been declining since 1987. Even tho 29% of bee species increased over that period, 49% declined.
And as it happens, a deteriorating environment is ultimately a bad news for the economy. Pollinators contribute for € 300-550 million every year to agricultural productivity, affecting both the yield and the quality of crops. For instance, some apple farmers are already spending 5 million of euro a year to make up for the loss the decrease of pollinators is causing, while for some crops as field beans there is evidence that a deficit in pollinator numbers is causing an adverse effect.
All of this said, as reported by The Guardian "MEPs blocked revised legislation that was said to ignore the risk to bee larvae from long-term exposure to chemicals, known as chronic toxicity. [...] Sixteen member states, which have not been publicly named, lobbied against the full implementation of the guidance before the new rules are brought to a vote in the European parliament."
Personally, I am a big supporter of European Union (and a honey lover). So I hope, that eventually MEPs will turn back their decision and instead vote to strengthen policies against pesticides.
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Live Pono!
Image credit: pixabay
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