Pesticide
use on land
LB-8
Loss
of Biodiversity
Pressure
1 Indicator
definition and unit of measurement
The
use of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides on land. The unit of measurement
is tonnes active ingredient per hectare weighted according to regional
ecotoxicity
.
2 Placement
in the framework
5EAP:
Chapter
4: Selected target sectors, section 4.5: Agriculture and forestry.
Chapter
5: The themes and targets of the programme, section 5.4: Management of water
resources.
Agenda
21:
Chapter
10: Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources,
advocates the consideration of all environmental, social and economic factors
and resources components.
Chapter
15: Conservation of biological diversity, section 15.5 specifies the adoption
of measures to encourage the promotion of
"sustainable
production systems, such as traditional methods of agriculture, ... which use,
maintain or increase biodiversity”.
International
conventions and agreements:
FAO’s
international code of conduct on the distribution and use of pesticides (Rome,
1986; modified 11/89).
Directive
91/414 (15th July 1991) on the approval of agricultural pesticides.
Ranking:
Core
ranking:
8
(25%)
Policy
Relevance:
5
(3 )
Analytical
Soundness:
10
(2.8)
Responsiveness:
11
(2.6)
Most
appropriate related state indicators:
N/A.
3 Significance
Purpose:
Pesticides
have the potential to disrupt the ecological balance and hence biodiversity in
both the short-term (immediate impacts) and long-term (cumulative impacts).
Relevance:
Particularly
important in relation to the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices
(see indicators LB-3 and LB-6). Also of importance in environmental management
practices of forestry, and the tourism (e.g. canals, riverbanks, golf and
sports courses) and transport sectors (pesticide use on railways & roads
etc...).
Linkages
to other pressure indicators:
LB-3:
Agricultural intensity; LB-6: Changes in traditional land use practices.
In
the Water Pollution policy field, WP-3: Pesticides used per hectare of utilised
agricultural area.
In
Air Pollution, AP-9: Use of pesticides for agricultural
purposes.
In
Dispersion of Toxic Substances, TX-1: Consumption of pesticides by agriculture.
Targets:
5EAP:
significant reduction of pesticide use per unit of land under production.
4 Methodological
description and underlying definitions
Underlying
definitions and concepts:
Pesticide
use includes herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators
and the impact of any reduction of this indicator on the biological diversity
of affected systems will be widespread and significant.
Measurement
methods:
Tonnes
active ingredient applied per hectare for each habitat or landuse category.
Limitations
of the indicator:
Current
pesticide data are widely available but may be recorded in weight of compound
or weight of active ingredient and this varies from country to country and
requires standardisation. A standardised toxicity weighting system is
required. Aggregation of data by habitat type or land-use category is not
available at present.
Alternative
definitions:
Disaggregate
the indicator to pesticide use per linear feature (road, railway, riverbank
etc.). Include a relationship to ground water/surface water
pollution
potential
.
The indicator could be related to biological indicator species or habitat
sensitivity rating.
