Bisley-with-Lypiatt Parish Council has implemented a policy to prohibit the use pesticides on land it owns and manages. This follows a wealth of research which shows the negative impacts of pesticides on nature including impact on flora and fauna. A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats.
Pesticides are linked to the decline of many pollinators and also animals higher up the food chain including hedgehogs, thrushes, etc. Herbicides containing gyphosphate has been linked with the occurrence of cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes glyphosate as a probable carcinogen for humans.
Want to know more about pesticide impacts, have a look at the Pesticides Action Network website.
Image obtained from Key Issues - Pesticide Action Network UK (pan-uk.org)
Whilst local action has been taken, the UK government has recently announced that it has approved a derogation for the application of thiamethoxam, a bee-toxic insecticide, to sugar beet. A derogation allows a banned substance to be used. thiamethoxam was banned as it represents an unacceptable risk to both honeybees and wild bees, other insect species and the aquatic environment, however in the derogation Defra only considers the impact on honey bees and does not appropriately consider the wider impacts.
Find out more about this at UK Government permits use of bee-toxic insecticides - Pesticide Action Network UK (pan-uk.org)
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