Fears are growing that a once-banned neonicotinoid, toxic to bees, could return to use in Scotland, as it has been granted "emergency" use for sugar beet across the UK for the third year running. 

Environmental group, Restore Nature, expressed concerns that a pattern was developing that could see thiamethoxam, which has been found to be a thousand times more toxic to bees than the banned chemical DDT, used in Scotland.

Currently, the pesticide is only used in England, which is where, in the UK, sugar beet is grown, but since there are plans to reintroduce the crop to Scotland, there is concern that the door opens to possible future use here, too.   

"Thiomethoxam," said Restore Nature, a private company that lobbies for rewilding throughout the UK, "which devastates wildlife and is banned throughout the world has been approved for use in England and could be used in Scotland if a proposed reintroduction of sugar beet crops goes ahead."

Earlier this year, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs granted the ‘emergency’ use of the toxic chemical, thiamethoxam, on sugar beet seed to combat Yellow Virus in British farms this summer for the third year in a row.

The announcement came not long after the  UK government advocated for a global pesticide reduction target at the UN COP15 biodiversity talks in Montreal, and the European Union toughened restrictions against this type of pesticide.

Professor Dave Goulson of Sussex University, one of the UK’s leading authorities on insects and author of the Sunday Times Bestseller Silent Earth, is part of Restore Nature’s petition campaign to force a debate in Parliament on the continued use of thiamethoxam.

Goulson stated: “For three years in a row our government has granted farmers special permission to use banned neonicotinoid pesticides on sugar beet. This is contrary to the expert advice of their own Expert Committee on Pesticides, which specifically recommended that permission should not be granted. It also flies in the face of a huge body of scientific evidence showing that these chemicals are phenomenally toxic to all insect life and that their use on any crop contaminates soils, hedgerow plants, and nearby streams and ponds for years to come.”

One teaspoon of thiamethoxam, according to Professor Goulson, is powerful enough to kill 1.25 billion honey bees.

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Insect biomass in the UK has declined by over 75% since the 1980s. This massive decline in insect populations naturally affects the food chain, depleting rodent, bird, and mammal populations too.

Also putting his voice behind Restore Nature's campaign is Professor George Peterken OBE, a former Chief Scientist at the Nature Conservancy Council, who links insect decline to intensive farming. In his recent book Meadows, Peterken notes that the UK has lost two-thirds of its wildflower meadows since the 1980s.

Professor Peterken stated: “The enthusiasm of so many people for creating, maintaining, and restoring meadows, partly to provide for pollinators, will be no match for the impact of re-introducing neonicotinoids to the farmland.”

Award-winning television presenter, Dr George McGavin, a backer of the campaign, stated: “These potent nerve poisons are extremely toxic to all manner of invertebrates and are water soluble - they get everywhere polluting soil, groundwater and rivers. These chemicals, often used prophylactically as seed treatments, go on to make every part of the plant toxic.”

Restore Nature also pointed out that as soon as the UK left the EU, despite their public commitment not to weaken legislation protecting the environment, the Government revoked the specific ban on the use of neonicotinoids in the UK.

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The group, which has senior lawyers on its team, has not ruled out a legal case against the Government over the use of thiamethoxam. 

"We contend," Restore Nature said, "that the benefits for farmers accruing from using neonicotinoids are minuscule compared to the environmental devastation they cause."

Currently, sugar beet crops have not been grown in Scotland on a large commercial scale for half a century but recently small experimental crops were successfully grown. 

The consortium behind the sugar beet initiative – which includes the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), SAC Consulting (part of SRUC), and Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) – has secured a funding boost from Scottish Enterprise to analyse its potential environmental, societal, and economic impact.