From the Revd Professor Martin Henig
Sir, - Anthony Bush (
Letters, 17 May) misses the point in lauding his success in
oilseed-rape production without the aid of honey bees. The debate
over the use of pesticides and the culling of badgers is not, in
fact, a dispute between "townies" and country folk.
Rather, it is about our own attitude, as Christians, to God's
wonderful Creation. Having read Psalm 104 in our churches at
Pentecost, is a time for us to reflect that badgers and bees are
not commodities for us to dispose of as we think fit. You may get a
good crop from some plants that rely on wind to pollinate flowers,
but that is no comfort at all to fruit farmers and beekeepers, or,
indeed, to anyone who values the general harmony of nature. And
bovine TB has surely been disseminated more by greedy farming
practices than by badgers, who are simply victims of human
arrogance.
Psalm 104, Genesis 1, and very many other passages in scripture
teach us that we must learn to live in harmony with creation rather
than in our arrogance to try to master it. In a world where too
often animals, our sisters and brothers in creation, are treated
with such appalling indifference and cruelty, it is at least
heartening to see that so many people, including many Christians,
have rallied to the cause of protecting the natural world in the
realisation that badgers and bees are also loved by our Father in
heaven.
MARTIN HENIG
16 Alexandra Road
Oxford OX2 0DB
From the Revd John Greenway
Sir, - Anthony Bush implies that those who favour the ban on
some neonicotinoid insecticides are "townies" ignorant of
countryside values. As one of them, I say that it is the
indifference to countryside values of industrial farming which is
causing the problem.
The ban (partial and short-lived) is being implemented at the
behest of the European Union despite opposition from the British
and some other governments and (as would be expected) the
agrochemical industry. I was one of many who signed petitions for
it because I was convinced of its scientific validity. There is a
worldwide decline of pollinating insects, which include honey bees,
bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, beetles, butterflies, and
moths. If this decline is not checked, it will be disastrous for
production of the estimated one third of food crops which require
pollinator services.
The causes of pollinator decline are not fully understood. It is
clear, however, that industrial farming methods are to blame,
because they have transformed the landscape from modestly sized
fields with hedgerows, long grass, and wildflowers, in which
pollinators can nest and feed, to vast areas of chemically sodden
monocrops that are hostile to them. The causes of decline include
insecticide poisoning, but also losses of habitat and food
sources.
Banning neonicotinoids cannot be a whole answer. The best remedy
would be to go organic, because organic is more wildlife friendly,
and so would preserve pollinators better. Failing that, there are
mitigating programmes that could be used more extensively than they
are. A programme, Integrated Pest Management, seeks to reduce
chemical inputs on farms to what is really necessary - by
encouraging natural predators to reduce pests, and by encouraging
old-fashioned crop rotations to discourage diseases. Leaving
uncultivated margins around fields can encourage predators while
providing long grass for bumblebee nests and wildflowers for
pollinator food.
Gardeners and local authorities can help by leaving areas of
grass long and by planting wildflowers in suitable spaces. Churches
can help by enabling areas of long grass and wildflowers in
churchyards. There is an organisation, Living Church-yards, which
promotes this, and which has claimed to have more than 6000 sites
doing so.
JOHN GREENWAY
73 Northmore Road, Locks Heath
Southampton SO31 6ZW