The Environment Minister, Richard Lochhead MSP, has refused to outlaw the use of nicotine-based toxic chemicals used by farmers to kill insects that damage crops. This is despite mounting evidence that the toxins harm bees, which pollinate strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruits. The 30,000-member Scottish Wildlife Trust is now launching a campaign to ban the pesticides, known as neonicotinoids. Trust officials met with Lochhead earlier this month, but came away frustrated by his failure to act."We are extremely disappointed with the Scottish Government's response to our call for a moratorium on neonicotinoids," said the trust's head of policy, Dr Maggie Keegan. "We urge the Government to adopt the precautionary principle and ban these chemicals until there is convincing scientific evidence that pollinator populations are not significantly harmed."
The trust warned that delaying a ban could have a devastating impact on pollination, which is economically vital, particularly to the soft fruit growing industry. Neonicotinoids are already banned or restricted in France, Germany and Italy, but not in the UK.
The chemicals are made by multi-national pesticide companies to paralyse insects by attacking their nervous systems. With sales of more than £1 billion a year they are the world's most widely used insecticide, and are applied to 10% of Scotland's crop-growing land, mostly to protect oil seed rape.
Source: Herald Scotland, 23 December 2012
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/environment/scottish-government-fail…
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