People urged to take action to reverse government decision to allow deadly pesticides to be used for growing sugar beet crops at talk in Newark by renowned bee expert and best-selling author Professor Dave Goulson

More than 90 concerned participants joined in a talk and question and answer session by renowned bee expert and best-selling author Professor Dave Goulson and were urged to take action to reverse the government‘s decision to allow deadly pesticides to be used for growing sugar beet crops.

The talk, on Tuesday, May 9, was organised by Newark and Sherwood Extinction Rebellion (XR) and was held jointly with the Bury St Edmunds group. The Suffolk town is, like Newark, home to a sugar beet factory supplied by local farmers.

Mr Goulson, who is Professor of Biology (evolution, behaviour and environment) at the University of Sussex, explained how Environment Secretary Therese Coffey and Environment Minister and Sherwood MP Mark Spencer had agreed a ‘derogation’ or exemption for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on beet crops for the third year running, despite the pesticides being banned in all EU countries.

He said: “Farmers all over Europe are growing sugar beet without neonicotinoids, so why can’t we? Insects are vital to all of us whether we like them or not.

“Three-quarters of all crops depend on pollinators and that’s not just honey bees but thousands of insects – including butterflies and moths and wasps and beetles...One teaspoon of this poison is enough to kill over a billion bees.”

Professor Goulson said insects were important as food for other creatures, also for controlling crop pests and were ‘master recyclers’. But bees and other insects were in steep decline worldwide and neonicotinoids were an inefficient pesticide in that only 5% of the pesticide was absorbed by the plant as intended. The other 95% leaches into the soil, border hedges and wild flowers and into water courses, where it can prove fatal to fish.

“We are desperately trying to find a way to feed the world without killing everything in the process,” he added.

Professor Goulson said that petitions against the derogation of these pesticides were ongoing but people needed to do more to bring their use to an end. This could include protesting to their MP and buying organic fruit and vegetables.

Hockerton beekeeper and Newark XR member Simon Tilley said: “Professor Goulson gave an inspiring talk and we do need to take action. Human life depends on food crops, which in turn depend on pollinating insects, yet the government keeps allowing the use of these deadly poisons.”

Newark XR’s next action will be a ‘Save the Bees’ rally on World Bee Day on Saturday May 20, with volunteers dressed as bees forming a procession into the town’s market square, starting at Riverside Park at 11am, and acting out a theatrical performance on the effect of pesticides.

Simon said: “It will be a family-friendly event to raise awareness of this vital issue, and the more people who come along to watch or take part the better. The real point is that, if bees and pollinating insects become extinct, we could be next.”