Protesters spread the glyphosate message

Members of Extinction Rebellion Wimborne staged a colourful protest in Wimborne to raise awareness of Dorset Council spraying glyphosate on roads, pavements and SANGs. They held banners reading, ‘Stop Spraying, Save Our Bees’ and ‘Glyphosate Harms Honey Bees, Bumblebees, Humans’. They also unfurled a banner stating ‘Nature is Dying, Act Now’. Resident professor James Bullock said: “We live in one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet.
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“Glyphosate destroys nature. “It kills plants indiscriminately, harms bees and it gets into our waterways. Nature in the UK is under great stress, experiencing huge declines in insects, birds and wildlife in general. Nature needs a home and our towns and gardens must serve as a haven for wildlife.

“And contrary to what you may have been led to believe, glyphosate does not break down into a harmless byproduct but into AMPA, which is toxic to aquatic life like plants and fish.”

Local resident Joanna Bury said, “Glyphosate - also known as Roundup - is considered by the World Health Organisation to be a probable cause of cancer in humans.

“Recent studies have found that 80 per cent of adults and children have glyphosate in their urine.”
Protestyors say that the Pesticide Action Network is promoting ‘Pesticide Free Towns’. They say the first was Glastonbury which has been followed by dozens more. Dorset examples include Shaftesbury and Lyme Regis. Many councils across Europe have moved away from using pesticides, demonstrating that it is possible.

On its website the Pesticide Action Network mentions many alternatives to the use of pesticides including heat treatment, mechanised hoes, strimming, hand weeding, acetic acid solutions, steel brushing, high pressure hot water.