Authorities set up working group aimed at keeping wildlife from being killed by pesticides

The Agriculture and Environmental Protection ministries and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announce the establishment of a joint working team to reduce wildlife poisoning by pesticides.

The move follows the death by poisoning of over 1,000 black kites this month in the Negev, southern Israel. The birds had drunk from puddles contaminated with pesticides.

Discussions kick off at the offices of the Agriculture Ministry’s Plant Protection and Inspection Services.

Prof. Dror Hablana, Chief Scientist at the Nature and Parks Authority, says after the meeting, “Improper use of pesticides poses a major threat to wildlife populations and may undermine the structure of food webs and natural ecosystems in Israel. Conservation efforts that are not accompanied by improved regulation and oversight of pesticide use cannot provide an adequate response to the ongoing harm to wildlife populations. I welcome the establishment of an inter-ministerial working group to improve pesticide use policy, designed to enable prosperous agriculture while minimizing the existing threat to wildlife, ecosystems, and humans.”