Archive
PESTICIDAL HORROR STORY
04/07/2024
Almost everyone to whom I speak has commented on how few insects they are seeing this summer. I have repeatedly written about this topic and every day, walking around house, garden and the local area or places I visit, I am struck by the lack of insects and other small invertebrates compared to what I used to see a few years ago. Although agricultural groups say they are using less pesticide, campaigners and scientists think that is misleading (see this link https://bit.ly/PESTICIDE). The problem is not so much the amount of pesticides used, which has reduced, but the steep rise there has been in how poisonous they are, i.e. their toxicity. Furthermore, the chemicals used on the land are a huge cocktail of hundreds of insecticides, vermicides, molluscicides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals targeting particular biological groups.
Take just one example, ivermectin. This is a worming treatment administered to cattle, horses and sheep routinely (not just when intestinal parasitic worms are noticed). Unfortunately, it passes through the animals’ gut and ends up in their dung. It then poisons important invertebrates, notably dung beetles (Scarabaeoidea), which normally consume and break down the faeces, improving soil fertility, a vital catabolic process in nature. The widespread use of pesticides is also killing the natural predators of agricultural pests, the ants, predatory beetles, hoverflies, wasps and others.
I know from my own observations and talking to friends and professional colleagues that insect numbers are crashing. For example, I have been surveying moths since I was a boy, and I can tell you that the numbers and variety of species I am seeing today are far fewer than they were even ten years ago.
Add to this the disruptive effect on ecosystems and ecosystem services of the excessive use of herbicides such as glyphosate and various fungicides and other chemicals, and the problem is staring anyone who observes nature in the face, as well as entering the human food chain! We have to stop it and replace the overuse of these dangerous and destructive chemicals with the principals of organic farming.
At Betts Ecology we do not use any harmful pesticides, herbicides or fungicides on the land we manage.
The General Election
On a political note, it is shocking to read this morning that, despite promising a second referendum after Brexit, Starmer has now reneged and ruled out rejoining the EU, single market or customs union. Brexit has been by far the greatest economic and social catastrophe of my lifetime, the result of an ill-conceived referendum corrupted by blatant mendacity and manipulation, so obviously against the best interests of the UK and a betrayal of our EU friends and former partners. He may sweep to power but will not get my vote today. I will always support those who are working to mend bridges and return us to the EU.
