[All] Sierra Club Applauds Neonicotinoid Pesticide Phase-Out, Calls for Fast Action to Protect Bees

[Neil Taylor]

> OTTAWA, ON, AUGUST 15, 2018 - SIERRA CLUB WELCOMES THE BAN OF DANGEROUS
> NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES, ANNOUNCED TODAY BY HEALTH CANADA, AND URGES A
> MORE RAPID PHASE-OUT THAN THE PROPOSED THREE-YEAR TIMELINE. HEALTH CANADA
> ANNOUNCED TODAY IT WAS PHASING OUT TWO OF THE MORE COMMONLY USED
> NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES. 
> 
> Neonicotinoids contain neurotoxins that affect insect life. Concerns about
> impacts on pollinators, especially bees, has mobilized Canadians to stop
> the use of these chemicals. 
> 
> Last year, the international body devoted to protecting global
> biodiversity, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
> released a review of over 1,100 peer-reviewed scientific studies,
> concluding there is no doubt neonicotinoids harm bees. 
>  Health Canada's own research found that impacts on aquatic insects, often
> vital to food webs - including fish and birds - are threatened by harmful
> levels of at least one of these chemicals found in the environment. And
> because insects are the most diverse known form of life on the planet,
> impacts on insects should raise alarm for global biodiversity. 
> 
> "The scientific evidence that these pesticides were hurting pollinators and
> aquatic life is overwhelming and alarming," according to Sierra Club Canada
> Foundation National Program Director Gretchen Fitzgerald. This evidence is
> being taken seriously by Health Canada, and we applaud them for taking
> action. We are breathing a sigh of relief today, but hope Health Canada
> will move quickly to make sure use is stopped sooner than their 2021
> deadline." 
> 
> "For years, our supporters have pushed for the rapid ban of these
> pesticides," according to Fitzgerald. "I can only hope that the damage we
> have already seen caused by neonics - and the resulting massive public
> concern - will result in reform for how we approve such pesticides in the
> first place." 
> 
> - 30 - 
> 
> Contact: 
> 
> Gretchen Fitzgerald 
> 
> National Program Director 
> 
> Sierra Club Canada Foundation 
> 
> tel: 902.444.7096 
> 
> email: gretchenf at sierraclub.ca [1] 
> 
> -------------------------
> 
> Sierra Club Canada Foundation
> 
> PO Box 2007 STN B
> Ottawa, ON K1P 5W3
> Canada
> 
>
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