Graham White: Farmers can plant headrows with wildflowers ‘til the cows come home, but nothing will stop the slide towards ecological extinction unless neonicotinoids are banned

Bird populations on farmland in the UK have crashed by up to 80% in the last 20 years. If there are no insects or larvae there will be few insectivorous birds. We are saying a long-goodbye to the skylark and starling, partridge and peewit, corn bunting and linnet. Farmers can plant headrows with wildflowers ‘til the cows come home, but nothing will stop the slide towards ecological extinction unless neonicotinoids are banned, because the substitute-wildflowers, contaminated by residual neonics in the soil, are equally toxic to insects.

Source: Graham White in the Beekeepers Quarterly, June 2012 (attached)