Cornish welcome for Gove's commitment to protect pollinators.
Cornish environmental company Green&Blue has welcomed news from Westminster that the Rt Hon Michael Gove is to support further restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids, with a pledge that the government will keep these restrictions in place even after the UK has left the EU.
“This is such fantastic news for our pollinators†said Faye Clifton of Green&Blue. “Policy decisions that protect our wildlife are absolutely vital and it’s great to hear the secretary for the environment pledge to take responsibility for protecting our planet for future generations.â€
Michael Gove visited the Green&Blue workshop in Perranporth earlier this year, accompanied by Cornish MP George Eustice, to learn more about the company’s bee brick and the plight of pollinators.
“To follow this visit with a policy change to further protect our bees is very welcome news and a great indication that he takes the role of environment secretary very seriously.â€
The contentious pesticides, neonics, have been shown to pose a greater risk to pollinators than originally thought. They contaminate a far wider area than just where used and persist in soils for many years after use, contaminating flowering weeds and crops on those soils which causes further exposure. Although it has been shown that it would take a massive direct dose to kill a bee instantly the steady exposure across multiple sources is shown to be having a clear effect on our pollinators and affecting their behaviour and in turn their reproduction. The long term impact is becoming clearer and more alarming.
“Cornwall Council was the first council to implement a full ban on neonicotinoids as part of their pollinator pledge and the news from the Environment secretary that the rest of the country is following suit gives us all hope that we can begin to repair the damage we have done to our pollinators.†said Faye