Without insects there will be no chocolate or coffee or almonds. And they are not the only foods threatened. The FAO puts figures on a future of empty pantries: 8 out of every 10 crops worldwide depend on pollinators, a fauna cornered to such an extreme that a third is in danger of extinction. The international organization also points out as one of the main causes the intensification of agriculture and its massive use of chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers. Which directly refutes those who point out that without pesticides there will not be enough food. It’s just the opposite. The loss of biodiversity is what directly threatens our food sovereignty.
According to this, Spain should be very worried. What is known as the Garden of Europe has almost half of its territory dedicated to agriculture and of this, 80% (18 million hectares) is threatened by pesticide contamination. Something that is detected even in protected spaces such as National Parks. And we are not only talking about food and the economy, but also about public health. The science For decades, these compounds have been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, reproductive and respiratory disorders, neurological dysfunctions, and cancer. Therefore, it does not seem very healthy that the concentration of these pesticides is above the limits allowed for human consumption in 30% of the surface water control stations in our territory (data from MITECO from 2022). Much less reassuring is that detected presence of prohibited pesticides in the urine of Spanish boys and girls.
Unfortunately, we have been like this for a long time. In 1962, we experienced a historic event when we formalized our entry into the European Common Market, thus taking the first steps to become part of what would eventually become the European Union. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, a book was published in the United States that should have also changed the course of history: silent spring. In it, the biologist Rachel Carson denounced the harmful effects that the massive use of chemicals had on nature. Now, six decades later and with much more scientific evidence that reinforces Carson’s premises, Spain has the opportunity to put a stop to this threat that ended with the singing of birds or the buzzing of bees and ensure our ability to produce food.
In less than two months, the Government plans to publish a new National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Phytosanitary Products (PAN) to “achieve the reduction of the risks and effects of its use on human health and the environment,” reports the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. However, the draft to which we have had access will fail to adequately protect either people or nature. The Plan presents deficiencies in its objectives, its application and control. Also in its degree of ambition, as well as in the indicators established to measure the risk associated with the use of pesticides. It does not ensure an unavoidable basic principle, which is that of precaution.
The text also does not include key aspects of the Strategies From Farm to Table and of Biodiversityproposed in 2020 by the European Union. Specifically, it does not endorse the objectives of reducing the global use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50%, as well as the use of the most dangerous ones by half by 2030.
To amend the situation, we request that the current draft of the NAP be withdrawn and remade so that it includes goals commensurate with the problem, such as those set by Europe. It must incorporate binding, ambitious and measurable objectives for the quantitative and qualitative reduction in the use and impact of pesticides, for the period 2024-2029. Specifically, public action must achieve a 50% reduction of the real toxic load. Also, it must prohibit immediately the use of the most dangerous pesticides, included in the list prepared by Pesticide Action Network. And all this, ensuring that it is applied from the beginning in highly contaminated areas, where the environmental impact and on human health are already urgent, such as the Mar Menor and Doñana.
The new PAN must veto the use of pesticides in public areas of non-agricultural use, especially in those where sensitive populations reside, such as parks and gardens, school environments, hospitals and nursing homes. Additionally, its use in the maintenance of train tracks, road shoulders, etc. must be avoided. In all these cases, glyphosate-based herbicides cannot be authorized.
To achieve fields free of synthetic pesticides, and for the transition to be carried out in a fair manner, public advisory, training and support systems must also be recovered, as support for people who work in the agricultural sector. At the same time, it must improve the quality and transparency of the available data, eliminating statistical secrecy, which undermines public scrutiny by civil society. Finally, and beyond the PAN, the production and consumption of organic foods must be supported.
Beyond this state plan, it is up to the European Union to recover the course of the agroecological transition and put on the table an ambitious regulation on pesticides, which will be an example worldwide. Also, it must demand the same rules of the game in global markets, to take care of the health of producers and ecosystems inside and outside European borders.
From WWF Spain, SEO/BirdLife, the Spanish Society of Agroecology (SEAE) and Ecologistas en Acción, we ask the Government of Spain to, although 60 years late, assume protection against the impact of pesticides. Because returning to noisy springs – with hums, trills and croaks – benefits the entire society, from those who produce to those who consume food. In short, to those who live and intend to do it (well) for a long time.
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