Help save our green and pleasant land from poisonous pesticides
The over-use of pesticides in our countryside is causing catastrophic harm to our soil, rivers, plants and wildlife, even the food we eat.
The impact of pesticides on our wildlife can be devastating. When fields are sprayed, animals can be poisoned by the residue that remains on their food and the harmful chemicals can contaminate nearby water sources.
With your support today, we can stop these toxic chemicals poisoning our natural world.
Help us stop pesticides destroying nature
- Pesticides poison the insects and worms that birds and mammals feed on to survive
- Dangerous toxins can leach or drift into nearby water sources. Some herbicides reduce the water’s oxygen levels, suffocating the fish
- Neonicotinoids, despite being outlawed by the EU, continue to be used on crops, killing millions of honeybees
- Traces of pesticide can build up in the human body over time, causing long-term harm and serious health issues
"Just one teaspoon of neonicotinoid is enough to kill over a billion honeybees."
Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology, University of Sussex.
The Soil Association is helping farmers explore innovative ways to prevent pests without pesticides.
- We’re providing technical advice and support to help farmers adopt nature-friendly methods that don’t rely on chemicals
- Farmers in one trial are using grazing sheep to reduce the impact of the cabbage stem flea battle on oilseed rape crops
- Potato growers are testing whether planting ‘trap crops’, such as sticky nightshade, could attract potato cyst nematodes away from potato crops
- But we need the Government to set clear targets for the significant reduction of pesticides on UK farms
If you want to see a future where our soil, rivers, plants, wildlife and food are free of harmful pesticides, please support us with a gift today.
- £75 could help support farmers to move away from poisonous pesticides to more nature-friendly and organic ways of farming
- £50 could help fund research into sustainable farming systems and innovative ways of controlling pests that don't threaten our wildlife
- £25 could help us pressure the Government to enforce the ban on neonicotinoids and save millions of honeybees
