As of: 25.06.2021 7:39 a.m.
The Bundestag has decided on a number of measures to improve the protection of insects. It’s about stricter rules for the use of pesticides and less light pollution. Farmers should receive compensation payments.
To protect endangered insects, stricter requirements for farmers when using pesticides in fields and meadows are to apply in the future. This is provided for in a law by Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD), which the Bundestag passed after a long struggle in the coalition. This is intended to expand particularly protected areas and to prevent problems with bright light sources at night as “insect traps”.
The package also includes rules for phasing out the controversial weed killer glyphosate, which the Federal Council is supposed to seal in its meeting today.
“Those who protect insects today will secure tomorrow’s agriculture,” said Schulze. Insects are pollinators and also a kind of “natural rubbish collection”. However, due to an enormous decline in their number and diversity, these services threatened to be lost. And pesticides have so far been one of the most important causes of insect death.
Specifically, additional areas are now to be placed under special protection, which are important habitats for insects: Meadows with scattered fruit trees, species-rich pastures, stone bars and dry stone walls. In many protected areas, the use of chemicals that are harmful to insects, such as wood preservatives, is also to be restricted.
Against “light pollution”
For the first time, specifications are also to come to curb “light pollution” – that is, nocturnal insects are attracted by lighting and then die. In nature conservation areas, for example, new lighting on streets and paths and new brightly shining advertising systems are to be banned.
“Insect-killing lamps”, which attract animals with artificial light, should be taboo outside of closed rooms. In the future, it will also be possible to prevent the operation of headlights, such as those shining up into the night sky for example during laser shows – especially during the peak bird flight times in spring and autumn. It was said that the lighthouses were expressly not affected.
Restrictions on pesticides in protected areas
Farmers are directly affected by a regulation that Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) contributes as the second part of the package – with specifications for pesticides. If the Federal Council agrees, they may generally only be used near larger rivers and lakes at a distance of at least ten meters. In the case of permanently green bank strips, a distance of five meters applies. Weedkillers are to be banned in certain protected areas, with exceptions, for example, for fruit growing and viticulture.
There are also rules for a gradual end for products with the active ingredient glyphosate. First of all, the use in gardens and allotments, parks and sports fields is to be banned and severely restricted in the fields. This should be completely over from January 1, 2024. This is based on the fact that the EU approval for glyphosate will expire at the end of 2022, but there will still be transition periods for sale. According to the draft, a review of the regulations may be necessary depending on the decision at EU level.
Farmers receive financial support
Farmers are protesting against the plans after stricter requirements were also imposed on fertilization. In the fields, the restrictions mean more effort to remove weeds, for example by plowing. The federal government therefore wants to offer an additional 65 million euros earmarked for farms, which therefore have additional costs. “With the current package, we are reliably rewarding the farmers’ commitment to more insect protection,” said Klöckner of the dpa news agency. A total of 250 million euros is available for this through a federal-state program. It also ensures that farmers can continue to control pests that threaten harvests.
The Ministry of the Environment made it clear that there is a need for action: The extent of insect death is “dramatic and scientifically proven” and not a local phenomenon. Oh, the farmers are committed to insect protection, but criticize the measures sharply. With this “missed” package there was now a threat of blanket bans on plant protection, said farmers’ president Joachim Rukwied. Agriculture in protected areas is being called into question, this is “a massive loss of confidence and a heavy burden for cooperative nature conservation.” The environmental organization WWF called the insect protection package an important first step, but more is needed. The next government must continue to improve habitats, for example through better biotope networking.