The Telegraph reports the RSPB and dozens of environmental groups have resigned from the government’s pesticides forum after two decades claiming the use of dangerous chemicals is now far worse than when they joined.

The charity alongside Wildlife and Countryside Link have written to Michael Gove warning they can ‘no longer stand by’ while the situation deteriorates. Two groups, the Pesticides Forum and Voluntary Initiative, were set up by the government in the 1990s to reduce environmental damage from pesticides. However figures show that the area of British land treated by pesticides has risen from 45 million hectares to more than 70 million hectares.

Numerous studies in recent years have shown that pesticides are causing long-term decline in insects and birds, and are probably behind ‘colony collapse disorder’ in bees which has seen populations plummet by up to 90 per cent. 

Pesticide application photo by Oregon Dept of Agriculture under creative commons