Ecosystem Services, Agriculture and Neonicotinoids Ea Sac
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Ecosystem services, agriculture and neonicotinoids Ecosystem services, agriculture ea sac Ecosystem services, agriculture and neonicotinoids April 2015 EASAC policy report 26 April 2015 ISBN: 978-3-8047-3437-1 EASAC This report can be found at www.easac.eu building science into EU policy EASAC EASAC – the European Academies' Science Advisory Council – is formed by the national science academies of the EU Member States to enable them to collaborate with each other in giving advice to European policy-makers. It thus provides a means for the collective voice of European science to be heard. EASAC was founded in 2001 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Its mission reflects the view of academies that science is central to many aspects of modern life and that an appreciation of the scientific dimension is a pre-requisite to wise policy-making. This view already underpins the work of many academies at national level. With the growing importance of the European Union as an arena for policy, academies recognise that the scope of their advisory functions needs to extend beyond the national to cover also the European level. Here it is often the case that a trans-European grouping can be more effective than a body from a single country. The academies of Europe have therefore formed EASAC so that they can speak with a common voice with the goal of building science into policy at EU level. Through EASAC, the academies work together to provide independent, expert, evidence-based advice about the scientific aspects of public policy to those who make or influence policy within the European institutions. Drawing on the memberships and networks of the academies, EASAC accesses the best of European science in carrying out its work. Its views are vigorously independent of commercial or political bias, and it is open and transparent in its processes. EASAC aims to deliver advice that is comprehensible, relevant and timely. EASAC covers all scientific and technical disciplines, and its experts are drawn from all the countries of the European Union. It is funded by the member academies and by contracts with interested bodies. The expert members of EASAC’s working groups give their time free of charge. EASAC has no commercial or business sponsors. EASAC’s activities include substantive studies of the scientific aspects of policy issues, reviews and advice about specific policy documents, workshops aimed at identifying current scientific thinking about major policy issues or at briefing policy-makers, and short, timely statements on topical subjects. The EASAC Council has 29 individual members – highly experienced scientists nominated one each by the national science academies of EU Member States, by the Academia Europaea and by ALLEA. The national science academies of Norway and Switzerland are also represented. The Council is supported by a professional Secretariat based at the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, in Halle (Saale) and by a Brussels Office at the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium. The Council agrees the initiation of projects, appoints members of working groups, reviews drafts and approves reports for publication. To find out more about EASAC, visit the website – www.easac.eu – or contact the EASAC Secretariat at [email protected] ea sac Ecosystem services, agriculture and neonicotinoids ISBN 978-3-8047-3437-1 © German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2015 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, no part of this publica- tion may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, or in accordance with the terms of licenses issued by the appropriate reproduction rights organisation. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to: EASAC Secretariat Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina German National Academy of Sciences Jägerberg 1 06108 Halle (Saale) Germany tel: +49 (0)345 4723 9833 fax: +49 (0)345 4723 9839 email: [email protected] web: www.easac.eu Cover image: Solitary bee (Anthidium florentinum), feeding on a Lantana camara flower. Credit: Joaquim Alves Gaspar, Lisboa, Portugal [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anthidium_February_2008-1.jpg]. Copy-edited and typeset in Frutiger by The Clyvedon Press Ltd, Cardiff, United Kingdom Printed by DVZ-Daten-Service GmbH, Halle/Saale, Germany ii | April 2015 | Ecosystem Services, Agriculture and Neonicotinoids EASAC Contents page Foreword v Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 3 2 Ecosystem services and agriculture 5 2.1 What are ‘ecosystem services’ and how can they be valued? 5 2.2 How are ecosystem services important to agriculture? 6 2.3 Putting an economic value on ecosystem services for agriculture 7 3 Trends in ecosystem services important to agriculture 11 3.1 Types of ecosystem services considered 11 3.2 Pollinators and trends 11 3.3 Natural pest control and trends 14 3.4 Soil ecosystem services and trends 14 3.5 Biodiversity and trends 15 3.6 Potential factors affecting agricultural ecosystem services 15 4 Neonicotinoids and organisms providing ecosystem services for agriculture 19 4.1 Context 19 4.2 Methods and reviewing the evidence 19 4.3 Sources and assessing the data 20 4.4 Key information 20 4.5 Impact on non-target organisms 21 5 Implications for EU policies 25 6 Conclusions 29 Annex 1 Expert group members 31 Annex 2 Ecosystem services 33 Annex 3 Consequences of pollinator declines 35 Annex 4 Overview of evidence on neonicotinoids and organisms providing ecosystem services for agriculture 37 References 53 EASAC Ecosystem Services, Agriculture and Neonicotinoids | April 2015 | iii Foreword EASAC was established to help policy-makers in European to agriculture and our society. EASAC thus decided institutions deal more objectively and efficiently with to conduct a study on neonicotinoids from the wider the many issues that either arise from or involve science perspective of the interactions between agriculture and technology. Since its formation in 2001, we have and ecosystem services. EASAC member academies contributed analyses based on the pooled expertise of our nominated 13 leading independent scientists in related 29 member academies in over 20 issues in the fields of fields who formed an Expert Group. energy, environment, or health and biosciences. This study has not only reviewed the science available Science and technology issues always involve matters of to the EFSA but also over 100 new peer-reviewed interpretation and uncertainty, and when these impinge studies that have emerged since the EFSA review. Our on powerful stakeholders or special interest groups, report overviews the relations between agriculture and the potential for selective use of scientific evidence in ecosystem services, their economic value and the trends support of advocacy is considerable. Seldom has this in Europe on the key ecosystem services of pollination, been more apparent than in the dispute over the past natural pest control and soil ecosystems, as well as the few years over the use of the neonicotinoid class of biodiversity that contributes to such services. An analysis insecticides. Interpreting the significance of current of the neonicotinoids and the evidence for acute, scientific evidence, reacting to new research results chronic and sublethal effects and field effects is then and dealing with remaining uncertainty have led to provided before considering the implications in the wider unprecedented campaigns by stakeholders both in ecosystem context. I thank the members of the Expert support and in opposition to continued use of these Group for contributing their knowledge and judgement, insecticides; and even involved legal action against as well as the Environment Steering Panel and EASAC the European Commission based on disputes over the Council for their guidance. science. Balancing the unavoidable risks associated with pesticide use against the critical role of pest control in As is often the case, science is indifferent to policy and agriculture has been the task of the Commission, and the legal boundaries. In this case, too, our report points polarisation in the dispute over science has even extended to the need to take a more systematic and holistic to Member States when 15 supported, 8 opposed and 4 approach to policy analysis, including the precautionary abstained during the Appeal Committee vote on 29 April principle, agricultural and biodiversity policies as well as 2013 whether to restrict certain uses of these insecticides considering impacts with other EU Directives. As part to protect bees. of its 2013 decision, the Commission committed to initiating a new scientific review within 2 years. EASAC The Commission’s regulatory action in 2013 was based hopes that its analysis will help policy-makers address the on an analysis of the available science by the European broader issues and not remain restricted to the narrow Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published in January 2013. issue of effects on managed honey bees. We will be At about that time, EASAC was also asked by the then gratified if this report can support EU institutions and the Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European European Parliament in developing future science-based Commission if it could contribute to the debate. We policy in these areas. considered reviewing the then current political issue of pollinators and neonicotinoids, but noted that pollination Professor Jos W.M. van der Meer was just one of several ecosystem services of importance EASAC President EASAC Ecosystem Services, Agriculture and Neonicotinoids | April 2015 | v Executive summary There has been considerable controversy in recent Natural pest control is where predatory insects (parasitic years over the effects of neonicotinoids on honey bees, wasps, ladybirds, some beetles, etc.) and birds consume culminating in a European Commission regulation in pests sufficiently to avoid the need for chemical measures. 2013 restricting certain uses of these pesticides on It is estimated to be worth US$100 billion annually flowering crops.