With estimations of over 500,000 tonnes in existence globally obsolete pesticides have become a major burden on the environment. Sitting in the corners of warehouses, or buried underground, they are often stored in corroding barrels from which they seep, contaminating soil, groundwater or rivers in several different continents. One of the best-documented examples is that of Vikuge Village in Tanzania where a shed storing pesticides donated by the Greek government collapsed. Even after 'clean-up' the soil in the surrounding area contains an astounding 28% DDT (page 12). This special issue of Pesticides News is entirely focused on the problem of obsolete stockpiles. 

PAN UK and others first brought this issue to the fore with a campaign to 'clean up' Africa. This has now borne fruit in the shape of the Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP), a programme of work to inventory and destroy over 50,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides located across the African continent, and to ensure future stockpiles never accumulate (page 4). With the ASP officially due to start later this year the first tangible steps have already been taken. A workshop in Tanzania provided participants with training in how to safely and accurately assess the stockpiles present in their country, a vital first step to ensuring their safe removal and destruction (page 5). A workshop for NGOs in Mali allowed participants to develop strategies to educate others about stockpile hazards and to prevent future stockpiles from accumulating in their country (page 6).

Preventing future stockpiles is a vital part of the ASP and, while effective strategies will vary, minimising the amount of pesticides sold and used will be key. A fungus which attacks the desert locust was trialled during last years devastating plague. Results are very promising and indicate that this biological control can form an effective part of a strategy to prevent locust plagues and to minimise the use of toxic pesticides (page 8). A developing botanicals industry in Tanzania may form another part of a strategy to minimise pesticide hazards (page 10).

The international community is now committed financially and politically to destroying the African stockpiles. However, even greater quantities of obsolete pesticides are located in other parts of the globe. Over 200,000 tonnes are located in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) but so far no financial or technical assistance has been offered to help CEE countries ensure their safe removal (page 17). The dedication of the International HCH and Pesticides Association is finally starting to gain some momentum in raising awareness of this issue internationally. Examples of contamination from stockpiles in the Czech Republic (page 19) and in Armenia (page 20) are described.

Obsolete pesticides are not confined to the developing world but can also be located in developed nations. A project to remove and destroy obsolete pesticides from North Dakota in the United States is described (page 9).We gratefully acknowledge the World Bank for funding this special issue.