Bee Killing Pesticide Banned For Bee Deaths

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Bee killing pesticide made from a chemical known as neonicotinoids has recently met an overwhelming opposition from the Vancouver city council.

Bee killing pesticide kills more than just bees

The city council members passed a unanimous vote banning the substance, also known as neonics, developed back in the 90’s as an allegedly ‘safe’ alternative from the toxic DDT.

This came in the heels of lawsuits to stem the environmental impacts of pollinator insect mortality presumably caused by neonics and its impacts on the worsening decline of honey production.

This also includes claims on the adverse impacts of trace elements of neonic-laced pesticides on plants and other insects, which could further complicate problems other than cause the decline of bee populations in North America.

Snail-paced delay in banning toxic chemicals

Although this recent move highlights a step forward in the campaign to ban the use of toxic chemicals, Wilderness Committee spokesperson Gwen Barlee suggests that they see a ‘serious delay’ in reinforcing the ban. Barlee claims that they see this happening even with an ‘overwhelming evidence’ of toxicity in neonics that are responsible for this environmental concern.

“We overuse pesticides. There’s a huge fallacy in policy making that the only way we can feed the world is by using pesticides, and that doesn’t stand up to the data. Organic and sustainable systems are as close to or as productive as pesticide farming. So we really need to be building policy around data than around the proclamation of lobbyists,” says bee expert Mark Winston.“We have to think about our values. Is it more important to have a perfect lawn or preserve the bees?”

Switching to organic

Winston suggests that the awareness on processes that affect the environment must always be a vital consideration, even with how processes could adversely affect the ecosystem.

Bee population has been seeing a worsening decline in population over the years at a rate of 12 to 38 percent every winter in Canada alone. Another factor that contributes to the problem is increasing loss of habitat and food sources of pollinators due to rapid urbanization and agricultural industrialization.

Winston believes that a total ban on pesticides may be a gigantic and difficult step, but calculates that a total ban of pesticides and going wholly organic for a period of five years can help repair this ecological problem.

Image Credit: Vancouver bans bee-killing pesticide – Vancouver Sun

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