Take Action on Pollinator Health!
Posted: January 21, 2015
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
Protecting Ontario’s pollinators is essential to the long-term sustainability of food production in Ontario, so it is important that the government take action to protect honey bees and other native pollinators. Show your support for the government’s regulations on neonicotinoids before January 25th, 2014.
Take action now by sending a letter via the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry!
From the EBR Registry
Please Note: All comments and submissions received will become part of the public record. You will not receive a formal response to your comment, however, relevant comments received as part of the public participation process for this proposal will be considered by the decision maker for this proposal.
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Background
In November 2014, the Ontario government announced a 60-day consultation to seek input on a proposed strategy to support pollinator health. The strategy’s goals are to reduce the over-winter honey bee mortality rate to 15 percent by 2020, and to reduce the number of acres planted with neonicotinoid corn and soybean seed by 80 per cent by 2017.
As part of the strategy, the government is proposing a new regulatory framework to govern the use, purchase and sale of neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed in Ontario. The framework would be put in place by July 1, 2015, in time for the 2016 growing season. See our blog post for more details of the proposal.
There is still an opportunity to provide comments through the Environmental Bill of Rights registry or by sending your comments by e-mail to pollinatorhealth@ontario.ca. The deadline for submissions is January 25, 2015. Use our template letter in the form above to signal your support for the government’s approach.
Photo Credit: Patty O’Hearn Kickham, shared via Flickr with Creative Commons license. Click image to go to Flickr source.