We’re demanding the government halts the use of toxic chemicals in publicly run areas of our villages, towns and cities - to stop harming wildlife, water courses and human health.

As founding members of the Pesticide Collaboration, we’re calling on Ministers to act now to ban pesticide use in playgrounds, streets and parks.

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY

“Pesticides kill, it’s as simple as that, and they have no place as part of a healthy ecosystem whether that’s in a garden, park or street,” says Fiona Taylor, chief executive of Garden Organic.

“Councils are being allowed to spray toxic chemicals in areas where children and pets play, people enjoy sports, and birds, bees and butterflies feed and make habitats. This can’t be right. There are many examples, in cities across Europe, where successful pesticide bans have already been implemented. We urge gardeners to get behind this ban and stop the UK from lagging behind.”

While many councils have commitments to protecting and improving biodiversity in local areas, most of them continue to use pesticides.

Impacts on wildlife

Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill living things. A product may be designed to target a specific pest, but it has been estimated that less than 0.1% of pesticides actually reach their target. The remainder of these chemicals end up contaminating water and soil, affecting non-target species such as birds and bees.
Due to habitat loss in the countryside, and the large quantities of pesticides used in UK agriculture, our urban spaces can be a refuge for wildlife (including birds, bees, other insects and hedgehogs). But the overuse of pesticides by councils is destroying many of the areas where they forage for food, and contaminating the natural resources they depend upon.
Pesticides will often run off hard surfaces such as pavements and paths, contaminating water courses and harming aquatic wildlife in the process.

Impacts on human health

Exposure to pesticides has been linked to a range of serious diseases such as Parkinson’s, asthma, depression and anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and cancer, including leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Pesticide use in our cities, towns and villages is of particular concern since these are the places where the majority of us live, work and play. Children, pregnant women and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of pesticides.
In March 2015, the UN World Health Organisation declared glyphosate to be a ‘probable carcinogen’. While much of the health debate around glyphosate has focused on whether it causes cancer, independent scientists from around the world largely agree that long-term exposure to glyphosate is harmful to human health in a range of ways and can cause conditions such as kidney and liver disease, act as an endocrine and immune system disrupter, and result in reproductive and neurological problems.

Councils are already going pesticide free

France, Denmark and Luxembourg have already banned the use of pesticides in urban areas, which proves that it's perfectly possible to manage urban spaces with non-chemical alternatives.

This campaign also builds on the work of more than 100 local authorities across the UK that have already significantly reduced or eliminated their use of pesticides. With support from the UK government we can build on their efforts and take the pesticide-free movement nationwide.

The Pesticide Collaboration brings together more than 90 health and environmental organisations, academics, trade unions and many others, working under a shared vision to urgently reduce pesticide-related harms in the UK.

To find out more please visit the Pesticide Collaboration website where you can sign the petition! You can also find a template letter, here, if you want to make more noise and write to your MP.

Find advice for stopping pesticide use in your own garden here.