On the morning of January 16th, beekeepers came together in front of Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin to draw attention to the plight of bees. Bee populations are suffering as a result of the current agricultural policy: Above all monocultures and the associated extensive use of pesticides have a devastating effect on the health of bee colonies.
- Credit: Jakob Huber, Campact
The German protest was aimed at Agriculture Minister Aigner who so far has blocked EU proposals to bind ecological environmental regulations to direct payments for farmers. The action was supported by the campaign “Meine Landwirtschaft” and the campaign network “Campact”, and is the prelude to nationwide mass demonstration “Wir haben es satt!” taking place on Saturday 19th January.
Last week, Campact launched an online petition: Stoppt das Bienensterben (Stop bee deaths), which already has over 170,000 signatures.
- Add your name to the petition here: https://www.campact.de/bienensterben/appell/teilnehmen/
- Find more information and pictures from today’s action (in German) here: blog.campact.de/2013/01/bienensterben-vorm-kanzleramt-wir-demonstrieren-mit-den-imkern/
- Insecticide ‘unacceptable’ danger to bees, report finds – The Guardian
- Neonicotinoids pose danger to bees, EFSA claims – Farmers Weekly
- EFSA identifies risks to bees from neonicotinoids – EFSA Press Release
