A mixture of chemicals found in modern pesticides (sprøjtegifte) may be killing bee colonies around the world, according to a UN Environment Program (UNEP) report.
Seeds (såsæd) are being coated (bejdset) in systemic insecticides that spread throughout the plant, from the roots to the flowers and into the nectar and pollen.
The report, “Global Bee Colony Disorders and Other Threats To Insect Pollinators (bestøvere)”, says that the highly toxic (giftige) chemicals in the insecticides, collectively known as neonicotinoids, can cause loss of the sense of direction and memory on which bees rely to find food.
The UNEP concluded in the report that “more than a dozen factors” were behind the bee deaths, including air pollution, new fast-spreading fungal (svampe) diseases and varieties of parasites such as the varroa mite, as well as the loss of habitat for wild flowers in intensively farmed areas.
However, the scientists were unable to pinpoint which were the most important factors, suggesting instead that more research was needed.
Without profound changes to the way human beings manage the planet, the authors say, declines in pollinators needed to feed a growing global population are likely to continue.
The report calls for farmers and landowners to be offered incentives to restore pollinator-friendly habitats, including key flowering plants near crop-producing fields and stress that more care needs to be taken in the choice, timing and application of insecticides and other chemicals.
While managed hives (kuber) can be moved out of harm’s way, “wild populations (of pollinators) are completely vulnerable”, says the report.
FNS MILJØCHEF: VI LEVER PÅ EN ILLUSION
Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, said:
– The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century. The fact is that of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees.
– Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to seven billion people.
Rapporten kan downloades i sin helhed fra
http://www.unep.org/dewa/Portals/67/pdf/Global_Bee_Colony_Disorder_and_Threats_insect_pollinators.pdf
Kilder: FNs Miljøprogram (UNEP) og Verdensbanken
