A group of protesters marched from St James’ Square to County Hall in Newport to highlight the damage that Glyphosate weedkiller causes to wild bee colonies on the Isle of Wight at 11:00 on Saturday (23rd July).
Some of those taking part wore black and yellow and brought dead flowers to highlight the damage the weedkiller allegedly causes. The protesters were concerned that, in February, Island Roads announced they would be returning to the use of Glyphosate weed killer on roads and pavements. The company claimed it was too difficult to remove the weeds with hand tools, and that they’d received a rise in complaints about weeds on roads and pavements.
A petition, which has received more than 5,000 signatures, has been launched to call on Island Roads to reverse their decision to protect the Island’wildlife, including pollinators and the wall lizard commonly found in Ventnor.
One of the protesters, Cazzie, claimed:
“Without bees, there is no us. They are the pollinators of the planet. Bees are a vital part of the ecosystem, but pesticides wipe out everything in their path. They are completely indiscriminate.
Anna – who was present at the protest – said:
“Glyphosate is carcinogenic, which means it is poisonous to us and all living creatures. These chemicals were developed for war. It’s all big companies looking for big profits.”
An Island woodworker at the protest told Island Echo:
“Island Roads set themselves up for failure as they made no effort to deal with the weeds until it was too late. They had the opportunity to employ local people to uproot unwanted plants but chose to use cancer-causing chemicals instead, which wash off the roads and into the water system. I don’t think that’s acceptable, and that’s why I’m here.
“The protest is intended to bring people together. We hope to get more for future protests. It’s an issue that should concern everyone.
“My background is in trees. 12 years ago, it was claimed that Glyphosate was safe. We now know that this is completely false.”
What a bunch of misfits.More time and money on there hands.Go and do something useful with your empty life.There plenty of work out there.
Who’s to say these people are not working it was Saturday afternoon.
treefields address -waterman
bet you don’t work do you
if it weren’t for bees you wouldn’t be here and neither would the vast majority of humans – I guess you don’t understand the role that nature plays in our existence
Why dont you
I fully support them. Here we are a supposed biosphere, all environmentally conscious, and the powers that ‘bee’ are killing off a critical member of the eco system. For all the little bits of work people have done on their land and gardens to encourage bees/insects island ‘toads’are casually undoing their progress.
Every week we hear the court’s give out ,eg 150 unpaid work, Community Service etc + do as other countries put them in high vis and get weeding etc. If they can be named in court/media etc maybe a deterant for future. We are to soft on these often waste of space humans.