English

EPA has denied an emergency citizen petition filed March 20 that aimed to ban clothianidin because of the "ongoing and imminent harm" the neonicotinoid seed treatment allegedly poses to bees and other pollinators. Responding on July 17 to the emergency petition, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Director Steven Bradbury details the multiple way in which the agency believes the petition fails to meet the various statutory and scientific hurdles that would be required for EPA to begin cancellation proceedings for clothianidin, a "widespread and common" pesticide in a class of insecticides used on 90% of total corn acreage planted in the U.S., as Bradbury writes (attached). The beekeeping community is outraged and perplexed. According to the Apiary Inspectors of America, the unsustainable honeybee losses in the USA have reached 30-33 percent. However, according to the working beekeeping community, annual losses are well over 50 percent, with many operations experiencing up to 100 percent turnover.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases in honey bees, fish, amphibians, bats and birds in the past two decades have coincided with the increasing use of systemic insecticides, notably the neonicotinoids and fipronil. A link between insecticides and such diseases is hypothesised. Firstly, the disease outbreaks started in countries and regions where systemic insecticides were used for the first time, and later they spread to other countries. Secondly, recent evidence of immune suppression in bees and fish caused by neonicotinoids has provided an important clue to understand the sub-lethal impact of these insecticides not only on these organisms, but probably on other wildlife affected by emerging infectious diseases. While this is occurring, environmental authorities in developed countries ignore the calls of apiarists (who are most affected) and do not target neonicotinoids in their regular monitoring schedules. Equally, scientists looking for answers to the problem are unaware of the new threat that systemic insecticides have introduced in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

That this House notes the recent publication of the scientific paper, Effects of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, on reproduction in worker bumble bees, by Laycock, Lenthall, Barrett and Cresswell, which reports research showing that exposure of bumble bees to environmentally realistic levels of imidacloprid reduced brood production by one third; believes that this is a major concern as bumble bees are important pollinators whose population has declined over recent years; recognises that this research adds further to the considerable body of evidence linking neonicotinoid use to population reductions in a range of invertebrates; and calls on the Government to ban the use of this group of systemic pesticides anywhere in the UK.

.... dependent upon its vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft. We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave to the ancient enemies of man, half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with such vast contradictions. On their resolution depends the survival of us all.

According to the recently released State of Canada's Birds report, grassland bird populations are declining rapidly in the country's prairie region. Bird enthusiasts all over Canada have noticed this decline said Hatter Phil Horch, a longtime birder and Grasslands Naturalists member. "We're seeing tremendous decline in some species," he said – and this includes local populations. "There are some species that get a lot of publicity like burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) and sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and so on, and definitely they are in decline," he said. "But species that a lot of people aren't familiar with are declining as well." There has been loss or degradation of native grasslands and pasture lands through agriculture, such as conversion to "grains, oilseed or fibre crops which provide poor habitat for most birds."

"It's an indicator of the health of the prairies as a whole," said Marty Drut, also with the Grasslands Naturalists - as plants, insects, mammals and other prairie species are also considered at risk. "It's an indication of how we've been treating the environment and how these species are responding to our long-term care of the environment."

Ornithologists in Wales have expressed shock at the findings of a range of independent surveys carried out across Wales in the last two years that reveal massive declines in the numbers of many upland birds. Species in serious decline include many of the iconic species that define our uplands including curlew Numenius arquata, golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus and ring ouzel Turdus torquatus. If the current trends continue these species may be extinct in the Welsh hills before too long. Surveys undertaken by independent consultancy Ecology Matters reveal that on The Plynlimon range in mid Wales numbers of golden plover have declined by 92% since 1984 with only one pair remaining; red grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica have declined by 48% and four species - teal Anas crecca, peregrine, ring ouzel and black headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus are now extinct in this area. Initial results of surveys being undertaken by the Welsh Kite Trust are showing declines of peregrines at inland sites across Wales. Where birds are hanging on breeding productivity has declined drastically. An independent long - term study of chough by the Cross & Stratford Welsh Chough Project has documented long-term declines at inland breeding and feeding sites.

In a region saturated with spectacular aquamarine waters and bright coral reefs, the colorful Schaus swallowtail butterfly (Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus) once was a familiar sight as it flitted over Biscayne National Park in South Florida. But the insect's numbers have declined over the past decade. With only five recent sightings, three confirmed, at the island park, federal wildlife officials are trying to save the species from extinction. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service late last week issued an emergency authorization to collect up to four Schaus swallowtail females within the park and collect and raise their eggs. "This is a very low number of individuals compared to what should be in the field," said Jaret Daniels, an entomology researcher with the University of Florida. The Schaus swallowtail, contained to a relatively small area in southeast Florida, in 1976 was listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened. It reached the endangered status eight years later. During the 2011 survey, there were 41 sightings, mostly on Elliott Key, the park's largest island. Six of the 41 were found on north Key Largo. Finding, or for that matter catching, four females won't be easy. Of the five sightings since May, only one was a female.

The French government has banned the use of a pesticide linked to the decline of bees that is widely used to treat oilseed rape crops. The French Ministry of Agriculture withdrew Cruiser OSR, a neonicotinoid insecticide that contains the active ingredient thiamethoxam, from use on oilseed rape in France. French agricultural minister Stephane Le Foll confirmed the ban on Friday (29 June). Cruiser OSR is a seed treatment by Swiss agrichemical company Syngenta, which describes it as “the most effective and convenient way of controlling damaging pests in oilseed rape”. The ban will take effect from the start of the next oilseed rape sowing campaign in the late summer. However, Luke Gibbs, head of public affairs at Syngenta UK, said British growers would not be affected. “The restriction on the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments in France will not impact the registration of Cruiser in the UK, which will be available for use as normal in the coming planting season,” he confirmed. Syngenta will contest the French ban. The Swiss agro-chemical company said it would be seeking to block the move through a fast-track appeal. A spokesman for Syngenta UK said: "Syngenta believes strongly in the safety of this product and intends to contest this decision in the Administrative Court and will be asking for a suspension of the decision pending the court's ruling."

There has been recent interest in the threat to bees posed by the use of systemic insecticides. One concern is that systemic insecticides may translocate from the soil into pollen and nectar of plants, where they would be ingested by pollinators. This paper reports on the movement of two such systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, into the pollen and nectar of flowers of squash (Cucurbita pepo cultivars “Multipik,” “Sunray” and “Bush Delicata”) when applied to soil by two methods: (1) sprayed into soil before seeding, or (2) applied through drip irrigation in a single treatment after transplant.