Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada’s said:

“There’s a fox in the chicken coop and the fox is the pesticide manufacturers reaping huge profits from farmers. It does appear there’s virtually no benefit but vast hazards to our environment from neonicotinoids. If the Canadian government can’t get its act together to do its job then the provinces must lead to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.”  

–  beatrice[at]foecanada.org

Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth in the UK said:

“Evidence is mounting that neonics harm bees. In the past year alone, ten independent studies have revealed risks not just to honey bees but to wild bees, to birds and also to our water and soil quality. 

“Consumers, farmers and growers have been told that pesticides are safe. That turns out not to be the case. Now it seems the economic claims for using neonics are marginal at best.

“We need to produce and protect crops without putting our bees and wildlife at risk or asking farmers to pay for pesticides they might not need.”  

 – paul.dezylva[at]foe.co.uk

Tiffany Finck-Haynes, Friends of the US, said:

“The science is clear — neonic-treated seeds do not benefit farmers.  We must take action now to protect essential pollinators from these bee-toxic pesticides.
The solution to the bee crisis is to shift to sustainable agriculture systems that are not dependent on monoculture crops saturated in pesticides. It’s time to reimagine the way we farm in the United States and around the world and incentivize organic agriculture practices that are better for bees and for all of us.”    

– tfinckhaynes[at]foe.org