THE Scottish Wildlife Trust is urging the Scottish Government to reconsider its decision not to support a ban on the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) due to their harmful effects on bees and other wild pollinators.
While UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced last Thursday he supports further restrictions on the use of these pesticides, Holyrood’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing has called for further evidence before any decision is made.
Jonny Hughes, chief executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said Mr Ewing’s statement, in response to Mr Gove’s ‘welcome announcement’, was ‘disappointing given the overwhelming and increasing amount of evidence showing the harm this class of pesticides cause to pollinators’.