Beleid en debat

In seinem neuen Buch „Das Ende der Artenvielfalt“ belegt der holländische Toxikologe Dr. Henk Tennekes den Zusammenhang zwischen dem großräumigen Einsatz von Pestiziden und dem Rückgang zahlreicher europäischer Vogel- und Insektenarten. Die Agrochemikalien vergiften Käfer, Bienen, Fliegen, Schmetterlingen und Motten. Hierdurch wird der Bestand vieler Vogelarten gefährdet, da mit den Insekten eine Hauptnahrungsquelle wegfällt. Hauptverantwortlich für diese Entwicklung sind Ackergifte aus der Gruppe der Neonikontinoide. Weltmarktführer für Produkte dieser Substanzklasse ist die Monheimer Firma BAYER CropScience. Der Wirkstoff Imidacloprid gilt als meistverkauftes Pestizid weltweit, die BAYER AG erlöste damit allein im vergangenen Jahr 600 Millionen Euro. Das ebenfalls von BAYER produzierte Clothianidin hatte vor zwei Jahren das großflächige Bienensterben in Süddeutschland verursacht. Dr. Tennekes fordert ein unverzügliches Verbot der Mittel: „Das Risiko von Pestiziden wie Imidacloprid und Thiacloprid wird enorm unterschätzt. Die Firma BAYER ist verantwortlich für eine drohende Umweltkatastrophe. Ein Verbot neonikotinoider Insektizide ist aus meiner Sicht dringend erforderlich, um weitere Bienen- und Vogelsterben abzuwenden“.

Van Duijn (59) neemt het stokje over van Bart Bosveld die weggaat en directeur wordt van SETAC Europe. Van Duijn maakt deel uit van Topconsult van het ministerie van Economische zaken en vervult er momenteel de functie van interim hoofd beleidscontrol Directoraat Generaal Agro. Hiervoor bekleedde Van Duijn diverse directiefuncties bij het ministerie van Landbouw. "Het college is verheugd met deze snelle benoeming. Luuk van Duijn beschikt over de expertise voor een solide operationele aansturing en een strategische internationale positionering van het Ctgb in de top van de Europese toelatingsautoriteiten", aldus collegevoorzitter Johan de Leeuw.

Children are far more susceptible to chemicals and pollutants than adults and the increased rate of childhood illnesses is cause for alarm. Children are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards, including indoor and outdoor air pollution, solvents, pesticides, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. These contribute to certain childhood diseases, such as asthma and leukemia, and to some learning disabilities. For the past 15 years, an epidemic of childhood asthma has been occurring in the United States. Asthma, leading chronic illness in children of the United States, rates have increased 160% in the past 15 years in children under 5 years of age. The impact of increased exposure to adverse environmental factors must be considered as a contributor to the observed increase in chronic diseases and health problems.

Häufig werden Neonikotinoide bei der Maisbeize eingesetzt. Aufgrund ihrer Wasserlöslichkeit werden sie von der Pflanze aufgenommen und gelangen in alle Pflanzenteile einschließlich des Pollens und des Nektars. Besuchen Honigbienen Blüten von Pflanzen, die dieses Nervengift aufgenommen haben, dann nehmen sie es mit der Nahrung auf. Beim Ausbringen von gebeiztem Saatgut bleibt solches immer wieder oberflächlich liegen bzw. wird Beizstaub über die Luft weiter verfrachtet. Dieser kann sich an Blüten von benachbarten Wiesen absetzen. Dadurch kommt es auch im weiteren Umkreis der Felder zu Vergiftungen der Honigbienen mit Neonikotinoiden. Diese Nervengifte bringen nicht nur Honigbienen zum Absterben, sondern auch Wildbienen, Schmetterlinge und viele andere Kleintiere. Der Artenschwund in der Agrarlandschaft wird durch die Verwendung der Neonikotinoide weiter zunehmen. Auch Vögel sind davon betroffen. Zwar nicht durch direkte Vergiftungen, aber durch den Verlust der Nahrung.

The study, “Traumatic brain injury, paraquat exposure, and their relationship to Parkinson disease,” published in the journal Neurology surveyed more than 1,000 adults ages 35 and older who lived in central California. Some 357 of the participants were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Participants with the disease were nearly twice as likely as those without the disease to report having had a head injury in which they lost consciousness for more than five minutes. Forty-two Parkinson’s patients, or 12 percent of that group, reported receiving a head injury that knocked them unconscious for five or more minutes, as compared to 50 people in the non-Parkinson’s group, or seven percent. The Parkinson’s patients are nearly twice as likely to have had such injuries. Using a geographical tracking system, the researchers also found that those with Parkinson’s disease were also more likely to live within 500 meters of a spot where the herbicide paraquat was used.

Fearing that the Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) might go extinct in as little as two years, wildlife advocates have begun pressing federal officials to approve an emergency effort to capture some of the birds and breed them in captivity.The Central Florida bird is a subspecies of the grasshopper sparrow found only in vast, treeless prairies south of the Orlando area, including the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County, where the largest group of the sparrows clings to survival. "We consider this the most endangered bird in the continental United States," warns a letter sent last week to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Audubon of Florida; Archbold Biological Station; and a University of Central Florida ecologist, Reed Noss. "In light of population levels possibly below 200 individuals and very rapid recent declines of [the sparrow], … we conclude that the risk of delay exceeds the risk of mistakes," the letter states. The bird is small, elusive and hard to study. One of the things it is well known for is being closely related to the dusky seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens) of east Central Florida. That bird suffered a sharp decline in numbers because of mosquito-control projects decades ago that wrecked the ecological health of the marshes where it lived.

New figures show that the number of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in the region has fallen by 50 per cent while starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) have declined by 30 per cent and the song thrush (Turdus philomelos) by 55 per cent, in the past two decades. The figures from The Wildlife Trust of Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside come on the back of a report called ‘State of the UK's Birds 2012’ carried out by the RSPB which showed that nationally the bird population in the UK had declined by 44 million since 1966.

These shocking statistics are contained in the State of UK’s Birds 2012. Published by a coalition of conservation organisations, it charts the ups and downs of the nation’s bird populations over recent decades. This year’s report has raised fresh concerns for the fate of two wintering seaducks, whose range in winter is strongly associated with Scotland, the velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca) and the long tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis). Both have suffered massive declines in the Baltic Sea, which have been mirrored in Scotland, where the bulk of the UK population are found. Numbers have fallen so sharply (65% and 60% respectively since the first Baltic Sea survey in 1992) that both species are now considered threatened with extinction globally. Another suite of species to have suffered particularly significant declines are seabirds, of which Scotland holds 45% of Europe’s breeding population.

The Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is examining the possibility of banning the controversial nerve-agent pesticides increasingly implicated in the decline of bees and other pollinating insects. Mr Paterson has asked officials of his Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to examine the practical consequences of restricting the use of neonicotinoids, which are now widely deployed across British agriculture, The Independent has learnt. He wants to know about the likely effects on farming of a ban, and what alternatives might be available. This is the first sign that the Government may shift its stance on neonicotinoids, which, it was disclosed yesterday, have been implicated in problems with bee health in more than 30 scientific research papers in the last three years alone. Mr Paterson’s action will send shockwaves through the immensely profitable agro-chemical industry.