Title: Effects of pesticides on our wildlife | Policy and insight
Headings: Effects of pesticides on our wildlife
Effects of pesticides on our wildlife
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Ask the government to cut pesticide use
Bees and beyond
Creature contact with chemicals
Effects of pesticides on a range of wildlife
Earthworms
Soil-living organisms
Birds
Butterflies
Water quality
Fish
Frogs, toads, other amphibians and reptiles
Wild plants
Mammals
Why is this being allowed to happen?
Overuse of pesticides.
Rising use of pesticides
Flawed pesticide testing.
Pesticides and food security
So how can we turn the tide against pesticides?
Reduce pesticide use
Independent advice
More research into sustainable methods
A robust testing and monitoring regime
Multiple benefits without pesticides
Help make the countryside safe for wildlife and support farmers in cutting pesticide use.
Further reading
Sandra Bell 16 Apr 2019
Sandra Bell 28 Aug 2019
Sandra Bell, Nature campaigner 15 Nov 2019

Content: A study of once common dragonflies in Japan related their decline to use of pesticides in rice growing. Fish
A 2019 study of fish species in Japan reports aquatic systems being “threatened by the high toxicity and persistence of neonicotinoid insecticides” with effects cascading through ecosystems to alter the structure of the food chain. Frogs, toads, other amphibians and reptiles
These creatures also appear to be at risk. Laboratory and field tests have linked pesticides passed as safe to mortality in frogs and toads. Wild plants
Inadequate monitoring makes it hard to attribute the decline or loss of wild plants directly to herbicide use but they will reach non-target plant and other species and UK plant charity Plantlife cites "extensive use of herbicides” as a reason for wildflowers disappearing across Britain. Mammals
Mammals are not immune and a comprehensive review of 58 British mammal populations over 20 years found species such as hedgehogs, water voles, common and pygmy shrews declined by up to 66% over the past 20 years. Hedgehogs are struggling for various reasons including habitat loss, land use change and a lack of insects for food, which is linked to use of pesticides and slug pellets in gardening. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society has expressed concern about “the lack of food in sterile fields where lots of pesticides and chemicals are used – there are also larger scale farms so there are less hedgerows for hedgehogs to use.” Why is this being allowed to happen? Overuse of pesticides.