The UK Government has provided a written response to Neal’s Yard Remedies online petition calling for the introduction of an ‘ambitious target’ for pesticide reduction and support for nature-friendly farming.
The petition had garnered over 15,500 signatures as of 8 August – prompting the Government’s acknowledgement – but needs 100,000 to be considered for debate in Parliament.
In the response, the Government says that the long delayed National Action Plan (NAP) for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides which will ‘set out measures for increasing the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and sustainable crop protection’ is due to be published later this year but adds that it is ‘assessing the role of targets as well as the benefits and challenges of developing them, to support the ambitions of the final NAP’.
we need to keep the pressure
on the Government to make sure the NAP is published and to guarantee that our pollinators are protected
Anabel Kindersley, co-owner of Neal’s Yard Remedies, comments: “While it is encouraging that the Government has confirmed that the NAP will be published this year, the fact that they are assessing the role of targets is cause for concern. Removing targets risks watering down protections for our pollinators. The Government should be incentivizing the use of nature-based solutions for our farming, not making it easier to use toxic pesticides.
“Last week I met with Tony Lloyd MP, the chair of the All-Party Group for Bees and Pollinators. He agreed that we need to keep the pressure on the Government to make sure the NAP is published and to guarantee that our pollinators are protected from dangerous pesticides.”
In order to guarantee a debate in Parliament before the NAP is published, Kindersley is encouraging people to sign and share the petition (which has a deadline of 28 December) at https://bit.ly/3QJXv34.
