Pollinator Project welcomes general ban on weedkillers

The States has announced a ban on sales to non-certified gardeners from 31 October, though about 100 farmers, growers and garden services firms will continue to be able to use products containing the chemical, because they have the relevant safe-use certification.

‘This is such a great first step towards going full pesticide-free and is a necessary step to protect our fragile wildlife and our sources of locally-grown food,’ said Pollinator Project director Louise Gabriel.

‘Lots of other UK councils have done this, as well as whole nations like France and Luxembourg.

'We’re glad Guernsey has had a swift and firm reaction.’

Guernsey’s Health & Safety Executive was concerned about contamination of the island’s water catchments.

But its research had ‘found no evidence to link professional use with areas where high readings have been recorded in water courses’.

Ms Gabriel said there was ‘a need for greater transparency of what volume and frequency of glyphosate products are sold to professionals and where these are used’.

‘We’d also like to see the register of professionally qualified people firmed up so that it is refreshed annually with up-to-date controls of incoming and outgoing contractors too,’ she said.

Glyphosate was just one of several potentially harmful chemicals being used to alter the aesthetics of islanders’ gardens, she said.

‘We do have a caveat for regulated uses by licensed professionals such as on Japanese knotweed or Asian hornets but there is little to no need for the other pesticides like chemical insecticides and synthetic slug pellets when there are natural methods available,’ she said.

Most retailers offer glyphosate-free weedkillers as an alternative, following publicity about the effects of the chemical.

However, the Pollinator Project, which is hoping to make Guernsey the first pesticide-free place in Britain, is also concerned about these products and wants islanders to move away from a dependency on the chemical management of gardens.

‘We would not recommend using most of the branded “glyphosate-free” weedkilling products like Roundup that are on sale, as you may just be replacing one problem with another,’ Ms Gabriel said.

‘They often contain synthetic chemicals and it’s not clear what is in them other than one stated main ingredient.

‘Research by University College Dublin has shown that new co-formulants with more than one ingredient also harm bees.’

The Pollinator Project recommends the use of organic liquids ‘like a mix of white vinegar with a bit of salt’ on grass and broadleaved plants, or the use of manual tools like hoes or weed burners.

Alternatively, it recommends putting the tools away altogether and ‘leaving plants to flower and appreciating their beauty and their role in a healthy ecosystem’.