PESTICIDE USE AND POLLINATOR POPULATIONS

Early day motion 2604, tabled 17 January 2012 by Martin Caton (Labour). Signed by 19 members.

That this House notes the publication of the scientific paper Multiple routes of pesticide exposure for honey bees living near agricultural fields, reporting the recent findings of researchers at Purdue University, Indiana and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in the USA; recognises that this work shows that bees are exposed to neonicotinoid pesticide pollution of air, soil and plants throughout their foraging period following the planting of treated crops; believes that this adds significantly to the growing body of scientific evidence linking use of neonicotinoid pesticides with the decline in honey bee and other pollinator population in recent years; and calls on the Government to suspend the registration of all neonicotinoid insecticides whilst an in depth review of their impact on invertebrate species is undertaken.

Signatures by party: Labour 10, Liberal Democrat 3, DUP 2, Conservative 1, Green 1, Independent 1, Plaid Cymru 1.