Sign the petition to make sure the Environment Bill protects Bees and Pollinators

Pollinators are essential to a healthy countryside and agricultural production, but recent pesticide use has caused a reduction in the overwintering success of honeybee hives, has driven 40% of wild bee species from large areas of the countryside, and has contributed to butterfly declines. This ecological damage reduces pollination services and crop yields.

The current pesticide approval process does not protect pollinators. In 2010 the Government concluded that pre-approval tests for pesticides would not protect pollinators, but the UK has yet to introduce any new tests to help ensure that future pesticides are pollinator safe.

Current approval tests for pesticides only look at short term effects on Honeybees.
While the law says that pesticides that cause unacceptable harm to the environment must not be approved, if new chemicals are approved without adequate data then a blind eye is being turned.

Risk assessments of pesticides must be independent and scientific, and the public must have the opportunity to participate in this important environmental decision making. The ‘Protection of pollinators from pesticides’ clause will achieve these outcomes and help to save bees and other insects.

The Environment Bill was amended by the House of Lords to include a clause that directly protects our bees and other pollinators. Clause 75 will ensure that the long-term effects on bees and wild pollinators are carefully considered before pesticides are approved for use. We're calling on the government to adopt this clause, without the need for a vote in parliament.