Bee populations have a massive impact on crop fertilisation, as well as contributing to the founding processes in environmental food chains, so fluctuations can have a significant impact. They’ve been hit badly over recent years with certain pesticides contributing significantly to the plummeting figures that are stacking up in their billions.
However, luckily for the little furry, dancing queen lovers, the European Union could be on the brink of banning the most dangerous neonicotinoid pesticides.
One of the big reasons for the importance of the bans is the sheer impact bees have on both crops and the economy. Staggeringly, 90% of all plants and crops are pollinated by busy little bees every year. Without this pollination, large amounts of plants and crops won’t seed, cutting down the available food in the chain right at its foundations.
One of the most annoying things about the whole story is the significant lobbying power the industry representatives are putting into stopping the ban on the pesticides. Citing billion Euro economic losses if the ban comes into effect, they fail to realise that their loss will probably be someone else’s gain as more innovative solutions are brought to this marked. This means that the losses are on a company level, not a pan European economic level.
The concept that the food and pesticide industries will dry up as a result of the ban is just stupid. Both industries will go on in line with demand, however, the ban, if it is brought into place, will simply force them both into new environmentally friendly methods of production.
If you want to add your weight to the support of the ban and the move to more sustainable pesticide you can sign the petition that international campaign organisation, Avaaz, has set up at https://www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/?bSAqVbb&v=21428.
