British Environmental Secretary Michael Gove has announced that the U.K. will back a total ban on neonicotinoid pesticides in fields across Europe.

Gove cited recent new evidence that shows that neonics have contaminated the whole landscape. A global analysis of honey revealed that the contamination is worldwide.

The decision also follows the alarming revelation that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and much farther afield. This may mean you don’t have to buy windshield cleaner but it also means that many birds and aquatic creatures have nothing to eat.

The Euroean Union banned neonics on flowering crops in 2013. Now they are seeking a total ban on their use outside of greenhouses and the U.K.’s new position makes it very likely to pass.

Gove says the evidence now shows the threat to pollinators which play such a key part in Britain’s 100 billion (pounds) food industry. He says Britain must develop a farming subsidy system that would channel more money into environmentally sustainable ways of farming.

Why is the Canadian federal government still dragging its feet and allowing the use of these toxic pesticides in our fields? How much more warning do we need?

Robin Lunn and Lynne Rochon
Bee-Friendly