Eco Hvar

Insect Spraying: Open Letter to Jelsa Council

Published in Highlights

An open letter to Jelsa Council authorities about unacceptable practices related to the Insect Suppression Programme,

Insect Spraying: Open Letter to Jelsa Council

This is the English translation of an open letter to Jelsa Council sent by email on August 13th 2022.

Subject: the use of products based on cypermethrin for insect suppression in the Jelsa Council region.

Sadly, the fogging actions against mosquitoes around the Jelsa Municipality still give cause for concern. The collateral damage is enormous and increasingly visible. Residents and tourists are exposed to dangerous pesticides. Safety measures are not followed. Last year a bee-keeper in Zavala lost his bees following one of the fogging actions. No warning was given. This is all damaging to the quality of life on the island and of course it also has a bad effect on tourism.

Last year, in 2021, three products were used for fogging, which were based on pyrethroids: Neo Alfa, Neopitropid Alfa and Cipex 10E. According to the register of permitted biocidal products compiled by the Ministry of Health pri Ministarstvu Zdravstva (Registar biocidnih pripravaka - studeni 2021.) the active ingredient in Neo Alfa is cypermethrin; for Neopitroid alfa it is alfa-cypermethrin, but this is not on the Ministry approved list; neither is Cipex 10E (active ingredient cypermethrin) on the approved list any more.

In the EU Pesticides Database cypermethrin is approved with some strict limitations aimed at safeguarding pollinators: "only uses outside flowering of the crop and when no flowering weeds are present may be authorised". The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issues permits for biocidal products: their pictograms for cypermethrin highlight clearly that cypermethrin is potentially hazardous for human health and the environment. It is also known to be toxic to cats and dangerous for dogs. There are no authorized cypermethrin products listed in the ECHA database [NOTE: at the time of writing].

ECHA cypermethrin info card

(For details of permits for pesticides, please refer to our article 'Pesticides, Laws and Permits'; for details of possible adverse effects see 'Pesticide Products in Croatia'.)

Eco Hvar has been warning for years that the practices of insect suppression are causing many problems, while there is no proof that they have reduced the presence of mosquitoes - see our articles 'Poisoning Paradise - a Wake-Up Call'. and 'Insects Wanted!'

We ask, as a matter of URGENCY that there should be no more spraying of the environment in our region with such substances. The planned actions for later this month should be cancelled. The Council authorities should pay attention to the insect suppression practices and ensure that the safety measures, including adequate supervision, from the official Plan for the Programme, are put into practice.

(Signed) Vivian Grisogono

President, Eco Hvar

More in this category: « Croatia, Beloved Country Saint John Paul II: relics on Hvar! »
back to top
You are here: Home highlights Insect Spraying: Open Letter to Jelsa Council

Eco Environment News feeds

  • ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

    Global report provides an alternative to climate breakdown, political extremism and economic tensions

    • ‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia?

    Humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality and keep global heating within a 2C rise, according to a sweeping vision for planetary survival.

    The report by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) aims to be the most comprehensive attempt yet to navigate the polycrisis that is pushing the world toward climate breakdown, political extremism and ever greater economic and social tension.

    Continue reading...

  • England’s poorest areas face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds

    Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme disparities across country, charity coalition warns

    The poorest and most nature-deprived communities in England will be further left behind in their access to green spaces if proposed changes to planning laws go ahead, a report finds.

    More than 7.4 million people in England live in areas completely devoid of immediate biodiversity, including 1.4 million children under 15, the report commissioned by a number of wildlife and environmental NGOs says.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘This is not a hippy thing’: the startup recycling urine to make natural fertiliser

    As recent conflicts expose vulnerability of fertiliser markets and its effect on food security, VunaNexus offers an alternative

    When staff answer the call of nature at the European Space Agency’s headquarters in Paris, their urine is not simply flushed away – it is turned into something much more useful. While urine-diverting toilets are often associated with smelly festival loos, there is nothing bohemian about recycling nutrients from human pee, said David de Chambrier, the chief executive of VunaNexus.

    The process isn’t so different from recovering minerals in used electronics.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Good lord, what a smell’: can Brazil’s biggest city save a vital source of water from sewage, bacteria and organised crime?

    As São Paulo faces a climate-induced water crisis, campaigners are fighting to reverse the impact of pollution and illegal deforestation on its largest reservoir

    In a small motorboat laden with water-monitoring equipment, biologist Marta Marcondes and community activist Wesley Silvestre Rosa cross Billings reservoir on the far southern edge of São Paulo. Bright white herons glide over the water, which is flanked by thick dark green clusters of Brazil’s Atlantic forest, as the boat heads towards one of the more polluted parts of the reservoir.

    “We see where sewage is entering, we see what has been deforested and how that has affected the water quality of the reservoir,” Marcondes says.

    Continue reading...

  • Beating the heat: study explores the search for cool during heatwaves

    Smartphone data shows how we seek refuge in extreme heat, and why social inequalities leave some vulnerable

    Heatwaves are now an increasingly expected part of summer for many. But how people stay cool varies from place to place. A new study uses mobile phone location data to track where people go when the mercury climbs, and assesses how we need to adapt to live better with the inevitable heatwaves to come.

    During the summer of 2025, a 10-day extreme period of heat across Europe led to 2,300 deaths. Globally, governments are implementing heat action plans, but social inequalities mean some people are more vulnerable to heat than others. Researchers used mobile phone location data across seven countries – Brazil, China, France, India, Nigeria, Turkey and the US – to assess how people stayed cool during heatwaves in 2022 and 2023.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘To them a power line is a line of trees’: Costa Rica moves to protect howler monkeys from electrocution

    Electric shock is one of the biggest causes of death among wildlife in the country but a court ruling is a first step to making power lines safe

    Peque, a small black howler monkey, scratches her head as she sits on a thick wooden branch in a wired enclosure with seven other orphaned baby howler monkeys at a rescue centre in Nosara, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.

    Last year, Peque was one of more than 100 animals to arrive at International Animal Rescue Costa Rica (IARCR) as a result of electrocution on power lines, which primates such as monkeys frequently mistake for trees and vines.

    Continue reading...

  • Noted swift nesting site destroyed by contractors in peak season

    Campaigners say builders’ demolition of nest site highlights weak protection of wildlife from development

    A building that was a noted nesting site for swifts, among the UK’s most at-risk birds, has been demolished during the nesting season, highlighting significant weaknesses in the protection of wildlife from development, campaigners say.

    Contractors for the housebuilder Hill Group carried out the demolition of Regent House near Dorking station in Surrey over the last few weeks, during the nesting season which runs from 1 March to 31 August.

    Continue reading...

  • ​Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?

    ​The first heatwaves of the season reveal how ​ill-prepared governments across the continent are to protect people from increasingly dangerous temperatures

    •Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

    Meteorological summer has begun, ushered in with scorching heat that struck before spring was up. Although western Europe is nowmostly free from last week’s heat dome – which shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland – it is already bracing for yet another sweltering summer. Oppressive days, restless nights and furious fires are brewing. On Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organisation warned us all to prepare for the imminent return of the warming weather pattern El Niño.

    Scientists have not worked out how many people died during thislatest bout of hot weather, but one environmental epidemiologist’s early modelling pegged it at 250 extra deaths in the UK alone on the weekend before temperatures peaked. The full death toll is likely to be particularly high because the heat struck before people had properly adjusted their behaviour to stay safe in the heat.

    Continue reading...

  • Specieswatch: Scientists trace haunting sea thrums to humpback whales

    Understanding whale sounds could help prevent strikes from ships and even aid in search for extraterrestrial life

    If you stand on certain shorelines and listen carefully you might just hear deep rumbling noises. Sharp-eared fishers, lighthouse keepers and sea kayakers have been haunted by these late-night sounds for centuries and now, for the first time, scientists have recorded these thrums and pinpointed them to humpback whales, proving that whales have a far larger vocabulary than previously thought.

    Fred Sharpe from the Alaska Whale Foundation and his colleagues set up land-based microphones to tune in to the mysterious ocean noises. Tip-offs from Alaskan coastal communities helped to narrow down the best recording locations. Along with the previously documented trumpets, blows and shrieks that humpback whales make, the researchers recorded very low frequency rumbles, a bit like distant thunder, and new sounds including pizzle, howl and hooting noises. The night thrums travelled through the air and could be heard up to 6 miles (10km) away.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘My son is still suffering’: the ill effects of water contamination in ‘Brixham incident’

    Physical and psychological impacts of a tap water parasite outbreak continue to be felt in south Devon

    Most of the tourists milling around the busy fishing harbour or visiting Agatha Christie’s riverside holiday retreat have probably forgotten what South West Water euphemistically calls the “Brixham incident”.

    But for residents at the centre of the “incident” – a parasite outbreak that caused perhaps hundreds of people in south Devon to fall ill after they drank contaminated water – the physical and psychological impacts are still keenly felt.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.