Pesticides: local residents’ associations denounce the suspension of the Ecophyto plan

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: REMY GABALDA / AFP 10:20 a.m., February 5, 2024

Six associations of residents of agro-industrial farms deplore being the "collateral victims" of the suspension announced Thursday by the government of the Ecophyto plan, supposed to initiate a gradual reduction of pesticides, in an article sent to AFP.

>> READ ALSO -

 Accused of ecological decline on pesticides, the government repeats the reduction objective

“We, local residents, living in the countryside, want each farmer to be able to live with dignity from their work while guaranteeing the protection of biodiversity and the health of all,” write Alerte Pesticides Haute Gironde, Avenir Santé Environnement, the Collectif de Support for the Victims of Western Pesticides, Residents Together Durance, Stop Cancer in Our Children and Vavoir Nature Environnement, in this text sent Sunday evening.

“That we no longer run the risk, when we go out into our gardens, when we drink our water or when our children go to school, of chronic contamination by pesticides”, continue the associations, which regret the lack of “transparency " and information on the products spread. "Before a spreading, we are not warned. If we are absent, we do not know that the laundry, the children's games, the fruits and vegetables that we grow are affected. The poison control center advises us to clean everything: fruits and vegetables, garden tables and chairs, toys...", adds the collective. “Our children are the most vulnerable, and many are affected by pediatric cancers,” he emphasizes.

“Reducing the use of pesticides is no longer on the agenda”, denounce the associations

According to these associations, the announcement Thursday by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of a suspension of negotiations around the future Ecophyto 2030 plan supposed to halve the use of pesticides by 2030 (compared to 2015-2017) is "a farce since he planned to continue to demand nothing". But it is also a "strong signal announcing that reducing the use of pesticides is no longer on the agenda", they add, calling for "ambitious means to continue the current transition towards an exit synthetic pesticides.

The Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu assured Sunday that it was not a "step back" but a simple "pause" and reiterated the objective of reducing pesticides by 50% by 2030.

Alerte Pesticides Haute Gironde has been calling for environmentally friendly viticulture practice, since in Villeneuve-de-Blaye (Gironde), in 2014, a teacher and around twenty schoolchildren suffered violent illness after the spraying of pesticides. The Avenir Santé Environnement association was created after the multiplication of cases of blood diseases and cancers, particularly pediatric ones, around La Rochelle.