More Garden Centres Ban Products With Insecticide To Help Save Bees

UK-based Blue Diamond, Hillier, Notcutts, SCATS, and Squires join other garden centre retailers in banning products with chemicals that harm the bee population.

Bristol, United Kingdom (prHWY.com) March 4, 2013 - Five more garden retailers - Blue Diamond, Hillier, Notcutts, SCATS, and Squires - have recently agreed to ban gardening products that contain neonicotinoid pesticides from their stores.

The companies, which operate around 78 garden centres across the country, has joined the campaign to remove pesticides that are linked to the dwindling bee populations.

The campaign was initially started when big retailers, like Homebase, Wickes, and B&Q, decided to stop stocking products containing neonicotinoid insecticides. The move to ban the chemicals, which were said to be the likely culprits in harming the bee population, has since kept pace.

Recently, the European Union has also proposed a ban on the utilisation of insecticides on flowering crops. If the decision goes through, the use of the three neonicotinoids for the production of corn, sunflowers, oil seed rape, and other crops would be forbidden across the continent for two years.

However, Owen Paterson, UK's environment secretary, has confirmed the opposition of the British government to the ban. According to him, there has not been enough evidence to prove that the three pesticides caused the declining bee population.

The decision of removing the products containing the chemicals has since fallen to the hands of the retailers. SCATS, one of the latest companies that has opted to remove the products from its shelves, told Friends of the Earth that their decision would take effect immediately.

Other garden centres, including Scotsdales, have also bowed to customer pressure when Facebook followers urged them to take the products off their shops, according to Horticulture Week.

Friends of the Earth head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, has welcomed the move and even called on the government to take action and follow the retailers' choice to curb the use of such chemicals.

According to him, "It's great to see garden centres across the UK heeding the warning from European safety experts and pulling pesticide products linked to bee decline from their shelves. The approach of leading retailers stands in stark contrast to the government's reluctance to back European efforts to safeguard bees from pesticides. With bee numbers plummeting, Owen Paterson must take urgent action to safeguard these crucial pollinators by backing a ban and introducing a bee action plan to tackle all the threats they face."


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