The blog of Leicester Friends of the Earth, a grassroots environmental action group. We campaign on issues such as climate change, fracking, air pollution and plastic.
To mark Great Big Green Week, we went back to the little garden we created at the Highfields Centre and did some maintenance to spruce it up. We picked up litter, weeded and mulched. We also planted a few more strawberries. The herbs we planted in the spring have mostly survived the summer drought and are starting to look well established. Next year, there should be enough to pick some for cooking and herbal teas!
Before...
After...
We were recently very excited to hear that the City Council have decided to stop using glyphosate in parks and green spaces from January 2023!
As you know if you've been following us, we have been campaigning for the
city’s parks to go pesticide-free since 2021. We contacted the City Council
to express our concerns about the use of this poison and pointed out that exposure
to pesticides has been linked to many health issues, including cancers, Alzheimer’s
and infertility. We also shared research showing that glyphosate harms bees’
digestive systems and damages their ability to keep their colonies cool, which can
be devastating in our increasingly hot summers.
We spent several months on the streets
explaining our concerns to the public and gathering support. In July, we presented a petition of 1057 signatures asking the City Council to stop using
pesticides in parks and green spaces. We then attended the Neighbourhoods
Services Scrutiny Commission meeting in August and asked the councillors and
officers to reconsider their spraying policy.
The City Council have now responded to the petition,
confirming that they will stop using glyphosate in parks and green spaces from
January 2023, on a trial basis. They are working with Pesticide Action Network
to develop a pesticide action plan.
We would like to thank Adam Clarke and the council officers
in the parks department for listening to our concerns. The vast majority of
people we spoke to during our campaign were opposed to the use of pesticides in
the city. Many parents in particular will be relieved that they don’t have to avoid
sprayed areas when taking their children to the park.
Leicester has always rightly been proud of its status as the
UK’s First Environment City and the Biodiversity Action Plan states that the
Council aim to 'make sure that local biodiversity thrives'. We congratulate the
Council on taking an important step towards that aim. We hope that they will
take this opportunity to leave more wild edges in the city’s green spaces.
There has been a catastrophic decline in insect and wild plant species in the
UK, so we need to make space for nature in cities. We also hope that they will
reconsider the use of glyphosate in other places, like school grounds and
pavements.
This story was covered by the BBC and the Leicester Mercury. We celebrated the campaign win at our September meeting with tea and cookies!
