On Thursday, the government released its draft pollinator action plan, aimed at safeguarding Britain's bees and other threatened pollinators, along with a consultation on its proposed package of measures.

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The plan was promised last year, in response to mounting public pressure and a growing body of evidence from top-ranking journals suggesting that certain agricultural chemicals could be harming pollinating insects, which are already suffering the effects of disease, habitat loss and climate change.

As part of the plan, the government will commission a series of research projects intended to investigate and monitor the factors behind declines in bees and other pollinators, which are taking place all over the Northern hemisphere. Some of these evidence-gathering exercises will focus on determining the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators in the field and the government has promised to update its aims and actions as new evidence comes to light.

Though the research has been welcomed by environmentalists, some have pointed out that the government has a chequered track record on neonicotinoids. Though three of the chemicals have been subject to a two-year partial ban in Europe, in light of recommendations from the EU health watchdog EFSA and the findings of independent experts, the UK government has rejected evidence that neonicotinoids pose a threat to bees and ignored recommendations to implement monitoring schemes or curb use of neonicotinoids in gardening products in the past.

Instead, ministers have demanded more field studies, despite the fact that its own study (which was not subject to peer review and was released directly onto the internet) stands as testament to the difficulty of conducting such research, given the ubiquity of neonicotinoid pesticides. In the government-commissioned FERA study, control groups of bees were exposed to the pesticides being studied (along with another neonicotinoid variety which wasn't). The inconclusive findings were dismissed as useless by EFSA, which evaluated the research.

Critics have also questioned Defra's proposal to defer to pesticide manufacturers, who it wants to lead investigations into the effects of the chemicals, rather than funding independent scientists. Pesticide manufacturers, who first denied the link between their products and observed ill-effects on bee health, have attempted to sue the European Commission, which introduced the two-year restrictions on three neonicotinoids last year.   

NFU: Plans must engage with farmers

Responding to the launch of the consultation on Thursday, NFU Vice President Guy Smith said farmers and growers are acutely aware of the importance of insect pollinators and are concerned about the potential impacts of their decline.

He said, "As managers of agricultural and horticultural land and custodians of much of the wider countryside, farmers and growers have a huge amount to offer in terms of helping to tackle problems faced by pollinators. We need to encourage their involvement and part of this will rely on today's farmers and growers getting due recognition that they are part of the solution for pollinators, rather than hit them again with the 'agricultural intensification' stick and blame them as the cause of the problem."

Smith continued, "Farming can and does continue to deliver real benefits for pollinators, through continuing development of Integrated Pest Management techniques across the industry and uptake of positive management to provide food and a home for pollinators, such as the voluntary measures promoted in the Campaign for the Farmed Environment."

FoE: Government plans are too weak to work

However, Friends of the Earth said the draft strategy must be "considerably strengthened" if it is to be effective. Whilst the charity said it welcomes the government's acceptance of the need for urgent action to tackle declining bee populations, it added that the draft strategy is inadequate in a number of areas.

Contrary to the NFU vice president's remarks, Friends of the Earth criticised the lack of attention paid to intensive farming or increasing pesticide use, which it said has a huge impact on the decline in the population of bees and other pollinators. The charity pointed out that Government proposals for confronting these problems are generally weak, vague and reliant on entirely voluntary actions, which have often met with limited success.

It also warned that current guidelines are also lenient on developers, and that better action is needed to improve land use so safeguard pollinators with new developments.

Friends of the Earth Senior Nature Campaigner Paul de Zylva said on Thursday, "The Government rightly recognises the need for an action plan to safeguard Britain's vital bees – but these proposals need to be considerably strengthened. Pollinators play a crucial role in our farms, gardens and countryside – we cannot afford to take them for granted.

"Our bees are facing an unprecedented crisis - Ministers must ensure all the threats are tackled, especially those from intensive farming and pesticides."

The consultation is up and running on the Defra website. It will run from 6 March to 2 May.