Vincent Oostvogels (22)
is exploring the delicate interface between nature management and food production through his two Master’s programmes, Forest and Nature Conservation and Animal Sciences
Elsewhere in The Hague recently, the National Bee Strategy was proudly presented. This is an action plan for bees and other pollinators, signed by 43 parties. Besides WUR, signatories included chemical firms BASF, Bayer and Syngenta. Fortunately, because – regardless of any of Dion Graus’s other standpoints – it is certainly true that bees and pesticides don’t always make a good combination.
The action plan is clear about that too. It focuses mainly on food supply and nesting opportunities, but it also includes a lot of phrases such as ‘wise use of crop protection chemicals’. To find out exactly what is meant by ‘wise’ you have to refer to a memo mentioned in a footnote. While a lot of stakeholders have been positioning themselves clearly in the debate on the authorizing of individual pesticides, the National Bee Strategy does not mention a single product by name.
That really is a bit strange. Nobody would deny that you should deal with pesticides sensibly but what constitutes ‘sensibly’ depends, for a start, on the substance in question. No two pesticides are the same and we are none the wiser for vague talk of ‘wise use’. I don’t think that will lure Dion’s bees out of their hives. .