Today there is general recognition of the contribution of not-for-profit, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on environmental issues to ensure higher levels of protection of human health and the environment and in implementing more sustainable pest management and farming systems. There is a major need for more awareness-raising among Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) NGOs regarding the use of pesticides, capacity building to influence policy, and mutual co-operation with NGOs in other parts of Europe.
Information and dialogue
PAN Germany has been facilitating information transfer and dialogue among NGOs in CEEC since 2001. It has organised strategic planning meetings and workshops on pesticide issues and sustainable alternatives in order to strengthen their capacity for action. In addition, small grants have supported NGO projects at national level and publications were produced by PAN Germany partly in co-operation with NGO partner organisations in CEECs.
A series of national surveys, published in 2003(1), gave an overview of pesticide use trends, regulations and other pesticide-related issues in specific CEE countries, with the aim of providing information on the toxicological classification of pesticides registered in each country. This information supports NGOs to analyse national pesticide use and control and to compare their situation with other CEEC and the fifteen older Member States. Surveys have been published to date for Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia.
A Pesticide Action Handbook(2) was developed for CEEC NGOs, giving a critical review of health and environment impacts, important concepts such as the precautionary principle, information on EU pesticide policy and how pesticides are regulated, along with guidance on how to lobby effectively at EU level. Links are also provided to enable NGOs to take part in joint activities such as political roundtable discussions. The handbook has been translated into Polish and Russian.
Encouraging best agricultural practice
In March 2004 PAN Germany organized a technical workshop,
Moving Towards Pesticide Reduction – Instruments for Change(3), in co-operation with the Polish Ecological Club with representatives from six CEECs. Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) is a concept focusing on rules, regulation and recommendations, often understood as ‘current agricultural practice’ in the EU. While the new CEEC Member States are already harmonising their systems with EU legislation, plant protection practice in other CEECs, including Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, was classified by participants as ‘bad’. Many farmers in these countries do not use pesticides at all, because they cannot afford them, but farmers who apply pesticides often do not handle them properly. In addition, the legal framework and official control instruments are either underdeveloped or do not work in practice. Bad pesticide practices in this region include uncontrolled and illegal trade and use in pesticide products and poor storage of pesticides, including old pesticide stores and obsolete pesticides.
All participants agreed that much more education and training for farmers and crop advisors is necessary, including financial and strategic support from the government as well as NGO activities in order to raise awareness of environmental and health risks of ‘bad’ plant protection practices. In order to move farmers away from ‘bad practices’ to good and best practices, the concept of Best Agricultural Practice (BAP) as a vision towards pesticide reduction and sustainable agriculture was discussed, too. BAP is a concept focusing on a step-wise hierarchy of activities, which goes beyond current concepts of GAP and Integrated pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Crop Management
(ICM).
Special focus in the Balkans
Bulgarian NGOs with PAN Germany organised the first international workshop dealing with pesticide related issues in the Balkan region in March 2004 in Sofia. NGO and government staff from Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Macedonia participated to exchange information on pesticide use, authorisation, control and monitoring.
Bulgarian agriculture was transformed in the 1990s from an industry based upon huge agro-industrial complexes into a sector based upon private individual farmers, co-operatives and farming companies. Over 95% of all agricultural land is now in private ownership. Pesticides remain too expensive for most farmers to use under the current economic conditions. Where pesticides are still applied, they are often used inappropriately and cause problems of pest resistance.
The management of pesticides is often very poor, leading to localised water pollution problems from poor storage, over-application, inappropriate disposal or accidents by spray operators. In 2001, 35% of pesticide stores were found in bad condition and present a potential source for environmental pollution. In 2003, there were 711 storage sites with 6631 tonnes of obsolete pesticides, and 412 of these sites were completely unprotected.
A network of Bulgarian NGOs was established in 2003 and a campaigner appointed to gatherer data about the impacts of pesticide use in Bulgaria and make contacts with administration bodies and other NGOs. Educational meetings have been held with farmers and experts in the Bulgarian Black Sea region and information disseminated to other Black Sea countries and the media. To increase cooperation in NGO action, a second international Balkans workshop is planned for September 2004 in Romania.
PAN Germany in cooperation with the NGOs in CEE countries recently published a series of country fact sheets summarising information on agriculture, pesticide uses and issues, suggestions for possible NGO action and links to key governmental agencies, NGOs and laws. Factsheets are available for Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic in English and national language, downloadable via
www.pan-germany.org
References
1. Smolka S and Neumeister L (Eds.), Pesticides in Central and Eastern European Countries: Usage, Registration, Identification and Evaluation. Case studies on Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia, PAN Germany, 2003.
2. Neumeister L (Ed.), Pesticide Action Handbook – A guide for Central and Eastern European NGOs and others, PAN Germany, 2003.
3. Neumeister L (Ed.), Moving towards Pesticide Reduction … realising Best Agricultural Practice in Central and Eastern Europe, PAN Germany, 2004.
All available as download at http://www.pan-germany.org/info/osteuropa.htm. CEEC non-profit NGOs can obtain print copy free of charge.
Susanne Smolka runs the CEEC outreach project at PAN Germany, Nernstweg 32, 22765 Hamburg. Tel: (49-40) 399 191022 Fax: (49-40) 390 7520 Email s.smolka@pan-germany.org
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 65, September 2004, page 10]