The UK is being accused of not doing enough to protect their resident bees. Some pesticides have been linked to having a detrimental effect on the wellness of the bees, but yet the government continues to allow these pesticides to be used, and is even trying to block a proposed Europe-wide ban on neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticide.
A cross-party group of MPs has expressed concern for the wellbeing of the bees, stating that they find the current government’s environmental policy to be inadequate in terms of protecting them. They described the attitude of the UK government as ‘extraordinary complacency’ and said that it is relying on some flawed studies to support its case not to ban the use of the insecticide.
MPs point out that bees provide a vital service in terms of pollinators and play an important role in the economy. They feel that more should be done to protect them – and this is a view shared by the EAC, who produced a report that concluded that by the end of this year, the UK government should end the use of three different types of neonicotinoids on the sorts of flowering crops that bees feed on, such as oilseed rape and corn.
The chemical companies who make the pesticides have also come under fire from this group of MPs, who claim that they often try to discredit any studies that seem to hint at any connection between their product and the decline of bees, and yet at the same time they refuse to publish their own research on the subject, making many feel that they have something to hide.
Three quarters of the food crops in the world rely on pollination from bees, but these important insects have seen a serious decline in recent years.
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