On 8th January 2021, the UK Government took a shocking decision that would have had far-reaching consequences for our insects. This was to allow farmers to treat sugar beet seed with the banned substance thiamethoxam - a neonicotinoid - as an emergency option to help against the beet yellows virus.

Neonicotinoids (NNs) were banned for agricultural use in the UK and the EU in 2018 due to their devastating impact on bees. Even minute traces of these toxic chemicals in crop pollen or wildflowers play havoc with bees’ ability to forage and navigate, with catastrophic consequences for the survival of their colony. A recent study showed that even one exposure of a neonicotinoid insecticide had significant impacts on their ability to produce offspring in future years.

The Wildlife Trusts (TWTs) responded quickly, launching a petition, which was signed by over 100,000 people, and threatening legal action. A cold winter granted our insects a reprieve as the weather killed off large numbers of aphids, meaning the threshold for use was not met and thiamexthoxam was not used. 

But we have now learned that for the second year running, the Government has announced that it will permit the use of the banned pesticide thiamethoxam on sugar beet in England in 2022, because of the threat posed by a virus, transmitted by aphids. In making the decision ministers went against the explicit advice of their own scientific advisors not to allow the pesticide to be used. This decision undermines Government pledges in the 25 Year Environment Plan to maintain and increase restrictions on neonicotinoids and its commitment to a legally binding target for species abundance in the recently passed Environment Act.

Insects are the foundations of our ecosystems, but they need our help. Thanks to habitat loss and pesticide use they are in steep decline, and we ignore their plight at our peril. Neonicotinoids are extremely harmful and have been banned for good reason. This decision to grant their ‘emergency’ use cannot be justified and flies in the face of the Government’s commitments to nature’s recovery. It is a decision that will harm the insects who keep our soils healthy and that pollinate many of our crops – the very creatures that much of our food production depends upon.  It is a decision that is of serious concern to anyone who cares about securing a future where people and nature can thrive together.

We do not believe that farmers should have to choose between making a living and protecting nature. But nature-friendly farming needs proper investment and farmers need to be supported to transition away from pesticides and to adopt new approaches like integrated pest management and agroecological methods that work with nature, not against it. The repeated granting of ‘emergency’ permissions for the use of banned neonicotinoids is a very poor and short-sighted solution to a problem that is not going away and has become a loophole to justify the continued use of banned substances. It is a decision that is bad for nature, bad for people and, in the long run, bad for farming.

Penny Mason Director, Wilder Living, Devon Wildlife Trust