pollinators  

The UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee produced a report in July 2014 on DEFRA's National Pollinator Strategy.  The National Pollinator Strategy has been in draft and a consultation has recently been completed - finalization is planned for later in the year.  The EAC conducted an earlier 2013 inquiry on Pollinators and Pesticides - part of a series of UK policy activities looking at pollinator impacts.

The inquiry on the National Pollinator Strategy makes the following key points:

• Defra's plans for research on the role and value of pollinators, and the impacts of pesticides, are welcome.  A national monitoring framework is a good idea - a clear baseline will be an important first step.
• The involvement of industry funding for critical research is a possible difficulty.  Independence of research is essential - with peer review and publication of results.
• Schemes within UK implementation of the EU Common Agricultural policy must support and protect pollinators - this must be included in forthcoming review.
• The final National Pollinator Strategy must give a clear view of what Integrated Pest Management involves, and ensure that interpretation of IPM reflects
• best practice elsewhere
• Public engagement in protecting pollinators is a good thing, including pollinator-friendly
• gardening
• There is disagreement with the UK government of interpreting and possibly weakening the "precautionary principle" by including economic considerations.
• The UK should, in the strategy, accept the European risk assessments underpinning the neonicotinoid ban and will "neither seek to end it when a European review is conducted in 2015 nor otherwise circumvent it".

The UK parliament's House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has launched a new inquiry into Defra's draft National Pollinators Strategy - which in turn has arisen from a range of policy developments and discussions in recent years.  Deadline for evidence 4 June.

The UK House of Commons Library has produced a note on Reversing Pollinator Declines - a useful summary.

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a short review of policy and evidence on Bees and other pollinators.  This is a first step in developing a national pollinator strategy for England in 2014 - expert workshops are planned for September and October 2013.