It is an order that has gone relatively unnoticed. On August 4, the Ministry of Ecological Transition authorized by derogation the sale of a biocide, fipronil, in Reunion. This temporary provision of 180 days, or about six months, allows the association Nature Océan Indien to use this substance, many uses of which are nevertheless prohibited in France and Europe, reports 1st meeting.
The decree should make it possible to fight against the proliferation of crazy yellow ants which threaten the green gecko of Manapany, a species in “critical danger of extinction”. This small lizard, endemic to the island, is also on the world red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Nature Océan Indien association is therefore working to fight against the various predators of the small reptile and fipronil is added to its quiver.
A substance banned in agriculture since 2004
However, the measure is not unanimous while fipronil has been banned in agriculture since 2004 in France and other European countries. In 2017, the biocide was found in eggs after its fraudulent use to disinfect chicken coops, mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands. This scandal shook the European poultry industry and led to the preventive slaughter of millions of poultry and the withdrawal of tens of millions of eggs from supermarket shelves.
In 2021, several Belgian and Dutch business leaders in the sector were sentenced in this case to prison terms or suspended sentences. Questioned by Réunion La 1re, the regional secretary of EELV in Réunion, Geneviève Payet, is worried about this derogation. “As soon as we put the pesticides in the ground, it is also the other colonies of ants that are impacted, the bees, many other invertebrates”, she assures. The association, which has at heart to protect the green gecko of Manapany, promises for its part to use the insecticide with meticulousness.