GARDEN chain B&Q will no longer sell plants grown using pesticides linked to bee declines, it has announced.
From February, no flowering plants sold by the retailer will come from suppliers that use pest control chemicals containing neonicotinoids.
There is growing scientific consensus that the substances, credited with increasing crop yields and improving profitability for growers, affect foraging and navigation in bees, also hitting colony growth.
A ban on the sale of pesticides containing the three neonicotinoids most linked to the problems is set to come into force, but B&Q’s decision will mean its flowering plants are free from all nine varieties.
Rachel Bradley, B&Q’s sustainability manager, said: “As part of our commitment to supporting Britain’s wildlife, in 2013 we reviewed the use of neonicotinoids in our garden chemical products.
“As a result of the findings, and ahead of EU restrictions, we withdrew all pest control products containing the three substances most linked to the decline in bee population.
“We are now able to confirm that, to further support pollinators, we are encouraging everyone to do more for wildlife and to that end we will ensure that none of the flowering plants we sell will be grown using any pesticide containing any of the nine neonicotinoids.”
Nick Rau of Friends of the Earth called the commitment “fantastic news” and urged other garden centres and retailers to follow suit.
He said: “The horticulture industry should stop using these pesticides as soon as possible and label any plants containing restricted neonicotinoids until this is achieved.
“Planting bee-friendly gardens and other spaces is vitally important for the UK’s threatened bees.
“Gardeners should ask retailers for neonic-free plants. If in doubt, people can always choose organic plants or grow them from seed.”
Temporary restrictions on products containing three types of neonicotinoid follow a 2013 vote by EU member states and will cover a two-year period.
The UK was among eight countries that opposed the measure, along with Austria, Romania and Italy.
In March, a report by UN food and pollution experts dismissed claims that pesticide use is essential to ensure world food needs are met and accused manufacturers of the “systematic denial of harms”, claiming “aggressive, unethical marketing tactics” and heavy lobbying of governments has blocked reform and “paralysed global pesticide restrictions”.
It is understood that the European Commission is now considering further restrictions on neonicotinoids, including a complete ban on the continent’s farmlands due to “acute” risks to bees.
In December, Dr Penelope Whitehorn of Stirling University presented new work which found exposure to the chemicals harm the ability of bumblebees to pollinate key food crops including potatoes and tomatoes.
She said: “The study adds to the now large body of evidence from lab and field-based studies that neonicotinoids reduce learning and memory in bees, impair their communication, foraging efficiency and immune systems and, crucially, reduce their reproductive success as well as the pollination services that they can provide.”
B&Q’s announcement comes as it launches the findings of a survey which found two-thirds of people are concerned about wildlife in the UK. Less space for nature in the countryside and in gardens was named as a threat to domestic species of plants and animals, as well as pesticides.
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