Saving Wildlife and Biodiversity: Looking to the Future

Published in Nature Watch

November 2019 saw the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative petition under the title 'Save Bees and Farmers'.

The petition was the brain-child of a consortium of environmental groups, including Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe, the Munich Environmental Institute, the German 'Aurelia Foundation', 'SumofUs', France's 'Générations Futures', and Global 2000 Austria. The full list of the campaign's supporters can be found here, and of course it includes us, Eco Hvar from Croatia. The campaign's aims were summarized as follows: "The Europe-wide initiative aims to fight against the collapse of natural ecosystems and in parallel, the collapse of small-scale farms; we want to support family farming and restore biodiversity by gradually replacing synthetic pesticides with non-toxic alternatives. Civil society organisations from across the European Union are supporting the campaign. They call on the European Commission to propose new legislation to phase out synthetic pesticides, restore biodiversity and support farmers in the necessary transition."

Public awareness of the dangers of pesticides is slowly awakening. Relatively few people are conscious of the scale of pesticide use worldwide, and the fact that the effects of the resulting poison mixtures are absolutely unkown. Many farmers are likely to be be surprised that people think they need to be saved! The agrochemical companies have been outstandingly successful in persuading them that farming is impossible without chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and that their products are safe and do not affect crop quality - tenets which are increasingly questioned and dismissed by independent scientists, observers and consumers. On Hvar chemical pesticides are used in astonishing quantities, especially glyphosate-based herbicides (see our article on land use in the historic Stari Grad Plain). Some farmers have changed their ways on learning more about the adverse effects of the poisons they have been using. A surprising number have carried on undeterred, even though most of them know that Hvar has a high rate of ill health, including cancers and thyroid problems, which can reasonably be attributed, at least in part, to the effects of chemical pesticides.

To bring home the urgent need to stop the intensive and indiscriminating use of chemical pesticdes in agriculture, the petition campaign included a research project titled 'Pesticides in our Bedrooms'. The results were published on September 21st 2021 and make alarming reading. The overall picture was outlined in a press release, and the details of the project were presented in a brochure, available in PDF format online. Eco Hvar took part, collecting a dust sample on June 22nd 2021 from a house in the village of Svirče which abuts on to vineyards. Seven potentially highly dangerous chemical pesticides were found to be present: five fungicides (Boscalid, Cyprodnil, Fluopyram, Pyradostrobin, Spiroxamine and Trifoxystrobin) and two herbicides (Pendimethalin and Chlorotoluron). You can read about their proven possible adverse effects in our articles 'Pesticide Products in Croatia' and 'Pesticides and their Adverse Effects'. Only a limited number of pesticides were included in the test, which was carried out in the Yootest laboratory in France. Many subtsnaces commonly used on Hvar, such as glyphosate, were not tested, so one fears the true picture is even worse. Naturally the owners of the house which was tested are extremely concerned about the potential damage being caused to their family and friends. Clearly a solution needs to be found as a matter of urgency. the only acceptable immediate measure would be for the farmers to stop using chemical pesticides and turn to organic cultivation.

The lawsuits being raised successfully in the United States against the manufacturers of Roundup will certainly help to change people's attitudes to that and other glyphosate-based herbicides. Slowly but surely, around the world, more cases relating to pesticide use are being brought. The French organisation 'Justice pesticides' is collating them as an information tool in order to help victims of pesticide use to understand how to make realistic claims in court. Lawsuits are lengthy, costly, and require a lot of detailed preparation. A successful case sends an exceptionally powerful message to all concerned, especially the agrochemical companies.

We need bees and other pollinators! Photo: Vivian Grisogono

A European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a formal application to garner public support, so that the proposals put forward in the petition will be examined by the European Commission. General guidelines about ECIs are given here. If the Commission decides the proposals merit it, they will prepare them for adoption into law by the European Parliament or the European Council. The process for preparing an ECI is complex and costly. The campaign has to be properly formulated and presented to the Commission for approval. Not all the campaigns submitted are selected to go further. There are six steps from start to finish in an ECI. The first is to create an organisers' group of at least seven people, each from a different EU country. Applying for registration is step two, for which the campaign must have an 'organiser account' in order to liaise with the EU, and provide details of the initiative, its aims, and its initial funding. Once submitted, the response will be given by the EU within two to four months. Step three is to garner support from at least one million people within twelve months from the starting date, which is chosen by the petition organisers: at least seven EU countries have to submit minimum numbers of signatures. The signature collection is strictly regulated, which is why the forms ask for relevant details identifying each person who signs. Data protection rules are applied to prevent misuse of the information. Step four: if the target of a million signatures is met within the timeframe, the statements of support have to be verified by the various countries whose citizens have participated. Verification has to be completed within three months, after which Step five is to submit the initiative petition to the Commission, together with all the support information and details of the funding received for the campaign. Step six is the Commission's response, which may consist of three stages, concluding within six months whether or not it will take any action based on the petition's recommendations.

Roundup (Croatian Cidokor) at work in an olive grove. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

The 'Stop Glyphosate' campaign, completed at the end of 2017, is an example of a a successfully organised ECI. The required one million signatures were collected in less than six months, well within the twelve-month deadline, so collecting was halted early. The ECI was titled 'Ban glyphosate and protect people and the environment from toxic pesticides'. The official record shows that funding for the campaign totalled €328,399. (No details are given on the EU website of how the financial resources are spent.) Despite the obvious overwhelming public support for the initiative, the Commission rejected its main proposal out of hand, concluding "that there are neither scientific nor legal grounds to justify a ban of glyphosate". However, important potential successes met the other two proposals in the ECI, with legislation proposed to ensure more transparency in the approvals process for pesticides, more reliance on independent studies regarding the safety or otherwise of pesticides (as opposed to the present system of primarily accepting industry-funded studies). The new Regulation covering these issues was published on September 6th 2019, coming into force 20 days later. It was due to come into effect after 18 months, on 27th March 2021.

The result from that ECI is not what one would have hoped, and it is horrifying to see how long the accepted proposals take to come into legislative effect. Given the amount of damage being done by pesticides in the meantime under the present system, these issues should be treated as a matter of urgency. But the ECI has still served a valuable purpose in raising awareness and showing the strength of public support for a ban on glyphosate. That is why all parallel ECIs highlighting the dangers of pesticides should be supported, even though one cannot be optimistic about the outcome in terms of the European Commission response.  

The 'Save Bees and Farmers' petition was one such campaign which urgently needed every thinking person's support. Launched on 31st July 2019, it was accepted by the European Commission on September 4th 2019, and formally approved on September 30th under registration number ECI(2019)000016 . You can see its initial presentation, including its basic funding sources, and how it progressed on the EU website. The Covid pandemic disrupted the normal processes of collecting signatures in person, and an extension was granted allowing more time for signings via the internet. The outcome was ultimately successful, with 1,154,024 signatures collected by the time the Petition closed at the end of September 2021. Activities in support of restricting the sale and use of chemical pesticides are of course continuing, The task is dauntingly huge and fraught with difficulties, but it has to be pursued for the sake of our planet and its future generations. 

The ECI 'Save Bees and Farmers' was presented to the European Parliament on January 24th 2023.

© Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon) 2020, updated December 31st 2021, February 11th 2023.

 

 

 

You are here: Home Nature Watch Saving Wildlife and Biodiversity: Looking to the Future

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Exclusive: UAE using site to ‘control narrative’ amid criticism of oil boss leading climate summit, say critics

    The Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, has been accused of attempting to “greenwash” his image after it emerged that members of his team had edited Wikipedia pages that highlighted his role as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

    Work by Al Jaber’s team on his and the climate summit’s Wikipedia entries include adding a quote from an editorial that said Al Jaber – the United Arab Emirates minister for industry and advanced technology – was “precisely the kind of ally the climate movement needs”. They also suggested that editors remove reference to a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline deal he signed in 2019, the Centre for Climate Reporting and the Guardian can reveal.

    Continue reading...

  • Rich nations should pay for biodiversity loss, which disproportionately affects poor countries, say scientists

    Wealthy countries should pay for the loss and damage they cause to nature in poorer countries in the same way as for climate impacts, researchers have argued.

    At the Cop27 climate talks in November, world leaders agreed to a dedicated “loss and damage” fund providing financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. More developed countries, which are largely responsible for driving climate breakdown, are to pay compensation to poorer nations, which are typically more vulnerable to its impacts.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: England, Scotland and Wales survey reports similar response to people with gas boilers

    More than 80% of households that have replaced their gas boilers with an electric heat pump are satisfied with their new heating system, according to the first major survey of heat pump users.

    Those who use heat pumps to warm their homes reported broadly similar levels of satisfaction to those with gas boilers, the survey commissioned by the innovation charity Nesta found.

    Continue reading...

  • Sorrento, Italy: A hornet scoots through thistley plumes and wall-lizards defy gravity. Behind it all, Vesuvius looks ready to blow

    Watching Vesuvius, waiting for a sign. Seen from the rooftops and cliffs of the Amalfi coast, the most active volcano on the European mainland is suspiciously silent in silver light behind clouds. We’re in Sorrento for our granddaughter’s wedding, a momentous event for us. But every now and then, a space opens into the place itself, into its poppy-punctuated story of olive groves and the psychedelic zest of Sfusato d’Amalfi lemon orchards between sheer cliffs and the sea.

    Watching a storm – during the wettest, weirdest May here for over 20 years – haul over the mountains as if in pursuit of some adversary, the focus switches to nearby lives and a random question: could some tiny ripple in the ecology of moments spark Vesuvius’ cataclysmic potential? For here are a few such unstill lives: a hornet, Vespa crabro, the predatory motor scooter of wasps, hunts through thistley plumes over a wall where gravity-defying Italian wall-lizards, Podarcis siculus,flick in and out of question marks.

    Continue reading...

  • Low demand combined with sunny conditions and meltwater lifts hydro and solar production

    Over the last week, several European countries had power prices in the wholesale energy market dip into negative values during daylight hours. The decline in prices was mostly driven by the abundance of available energy generated by renewable sources, combined with the relatively low demand for energy for heating or cooling, caused by normal springtime temperatures.

    Negative prices often occur when there is an excess supply of electricity in the market. This can happen when renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydro produce a large quantity of electricity that exceeds demand and cannot be stored for later use. In such cases, producers may offer negative prices to incentivise wholesale consumers to take the surplus electricity off the grid and avoid overloading the system. This situation occurred due to an area of high pressure dominating across much of central and north-west Europe, providing lots of solar power generation across the area. Meanwhile, Finland experienced an oversupply of hydroelectric power resulting from excessive springtime meltwater, which in turn led to negative prices here as well.

    Continue reading...

  • A study is under way in the water-scarce region to see if commodity farmers can use the regenerative technique of cover cropping as a way to adapt to rapidly changing weather conditions

    In one of the toughest growing regions in the US, commercial farmers like Frank Machac are experimenting with a style of ancient agriculture more known for soil health than profit.

    They are perhaps unlikely budding agroecologists. “My number one concern is yield, I’m not worrying about climate change,” said Machac, 60, a ruddy-faced straight talker with 30 years’ farming experience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).

    Continue reading...

  • No one has yet been able to sail an autonomous boat across the Atlantic, but a young couple in Wales hope their craft will revolutionise ocean monitoring of temperatures, wildlife and more

    When Anahita Laverack and Ciaran Dowds tested their robot boat for the first time off the coast of Wales, it was not smooth sailing. The 23-year-olds, both engineering graduates from Imperial College London, launched their autonomous craft – a 4ft, unmanned vessel – from a sailboat off the coast of Aberystwyth last July.

    Although the seas were rough, the robot boat “performed beautifully”, says Dowds – but he did not.

    Continue reading...

  • Around the world, different species are shifting their habitats upwards, with potentially catastrophic results for our ecosystems

    In the Alps and Apennines of southern Europe, nearly all the longhorn beetles are moving uphill, and way up at the peaks, the isolation of a brown butterfly with orange-tipped wings is pushing it towards extinction. This is a snapshot of a global trend. With temperatures rising and pressure on biodiversity growing, insects vital to our ecosystems are not only moving north and south, but up.

    Research shows many animals are making similar moves, but insects’ high levels of mobility and short generation times allow them to respond quickly to change, meaning the uphill momentum can be rapid. Bumblebees in the Pyrenees have moved upwards on average by more than a metre a year, with some species making significantly greater journeys. Moths on Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu have followed suit.

    Continue reading...

  • Crumlin Glen, County Antrim: Along this deeply wooded riverside path, I follow an impish male – or is it two?

    The steep sides of the ravine amplify the dawn chorus above the rush of the Crumlin River, which tumbles over black basalt from its source on Divis Mountain to its mouth at Lough Neagh. I look up at the first hesitant trills of a blackcap. His stutter climbs to a few clear notes, then babbles to a halt, as if the bird were suddenly shy of the liquid beauty of his own song.

    I stop to listen for more. At first there’s only silence – then another outburst. It could be the same bird, gaining confidence; or it might be his neighbour, anxious to remind him of their territorial boundary. Either way, the voice is directly along this riverside path. I go on.

    Continue reading...

  • Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van Houten

    More than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.

    Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds