[MPs Name] MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

[DATE]

Dear [MPs Name],

I am writing to raise my concern about the continued use of hazardous pesticides in farming, despite their proven toxicity to bees and other essential pollinators, and the proven opportunity in increasing the adoption of nature-friendly alternative methods of pest control.

As your constituent, I would like you to write to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and urge them to publish the severely delayed National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP), stressing the need to maintain a strict ban on the most hazardous pesticides such as neonicotinoids, alongside a clear target to reduce the widespread use of pesticides more generally.

Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and in 2018, Defra banned neonicotinoid pesticides, acknowledging “the growing weight of scientific evidence that they are harmful to bees and other pollinators.” However, for the past three years neonicotinoids were granted emergency reauthorisation for use in England in certain circumstances, against the advice of Defra’s own Expert Committee on Pesticides and the Health and Safety Executive.

Pollinator populations are already declining at an alarming rate, posing a major threat to the natural environment and our ability to produce food domestically. Recent studies suggest that we have lost as much as to 60% of the flying insect population in England over the past 20 years. 70 of the top 100 human food crops are pollinated by bees, so as their numbers decline our food security is put at risk. Around the world we are already seeing Canada having to import bees from New Zealand to pollinate its agricultural exports, and workers in China having to hand-pollinate fruits trees.

The pandemic and recent supply chain disruption have both shone a light on the need to produce more food domestically, and the government should be taking a long-term, strategic view of farming that recognises the vital importance of pollinators. 

The Government has said that it will address the issue through the NAP, and in 2020 the draft went out for public consultation. However, there is still no publication date for the NAP and worryingly, the draft does not include clear targets for reducing pesticide use, all whilst our bee population and wider ecosystem is threatened.

We must support our farmers in the adoption of proven alternative approaches such as integrated pest management, if we are to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 as we have committed to doing. Without targets, I am concerned that the use of hazardous pesticides will continue to be a first rather than last resort - and at the expense of our pollinators and nature at large.

As my local MP, I ask you to write to the Secretary of State, urging them to publish the NAP and set meaningful targets that will protect our pollinators and end the use of hazardous pesticides.

Kind regards,

[Your Name]

[ADDRESS or POSTCODE - so they know you are a constituent]