Silent Spring 60th anniversary: The old, the new and the ugly

(c) Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Stephanie Morren, senior policy officer for the RSPB, writes today’s blog reflecting on whether anything has changed with pesticide policy in the 60 years since Silent Spring

It’s not a choice between food production or enhancing nature. We can and need to have both. In fact, future food security relies on healthy soils, clean water and plentiful biodiversity. The use of pesticides damages all these things. 

 The old  

Sixty years have gone by since the American scientist, Rachel Carson, warned the world about the risks to the environment and human health of the extensive use of pesticides in her book, Silent Spring. Her book sparked a wave of public outcry and concern, and is widely credited with kickstarting the modern environmental movement despite receiving huge backlash from the agrochemical industry, as they tried to publicly discredit her claims. As a result, some of the specific chemicals she wrote about (such as DDT) were eventually banned. But overall we have still not heeded her warnings, with pesticides continuing to be used at huge volumes around the world – including farmland, towns and cities.   

The ugly  

Yet, at a crucial time for nature, the UK Government’s response to the risks and harms posed by pesticides, and any action taken to address them, has been woefully inadequate: 

• Despite promising a new, revised National Action Pan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides in 2018, it has still to appear.  
• Going directly against their own scientific advice, the Government keep approving ‘emergency use’ of bee-killing neonicotinoids 
• The proposed bonfire of EU regulations, as well as crucial environmental laws, is likely to include legislation related to pesticide safety assessment 
• Post-Brexit trade deals with countries with significantly worse pesticide standards than here in the UK pose a real risk of highly harmful pesticides being allowed to enter our supply chains. 

The new  

In combination with other recent attacks on nature and environmental protections, it is very clear that the natural world is in very grave danger. With a renewed public focus from the UK Government on ‘food security’, they are perpetuating the false choice between growing food and protecting and enhancing nature. Future food security relies on healthy soils, clean water and plentiful biodiversity. The use of pesticides damages all these things.  

More and more farmers are reducing their use of pesticides by adopting other nature-friendly ways of managing pests and diseases. At RSPB’s Hope Farm, we have not used insecticides for 4 years, and are producing good yields and profits. The development and roll out of the new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) was the perfect opportunity to properly support even more farmers to reduce their reliance on pesticides. But now, it looks like the Government is rowing back on their promises to pay farmers public money for public goods and better protect the environment alongside growing food.  

This new drive to deregulate in the name of growth poses a real threat the environment and human health.

Once again, it is time for us all to let the UK Government know we want them to act. Let’s not wait another 60 years.