Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-425"
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"en.20081119.27.3-425"2
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"Madam President, let me first of all begin by congratulating Astrid for her work on this issue. As far as I am aware, she has been talking about bees now for quite a long time so I am glad to see that this resolution put forward by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has given Parliament a chance to debate the problem currently facing the beekeeping sector.
While this issue has attracted a lot of attention and publicity, possibly because it is somewhat of a novelty item, we are well aware that in reality, the problems which we are facing are very serious and could potentially have devastating consequences.
I am sure that I do not need to remind anyone of the importance of bees – and it has already been pointed out here tonight – not only for the production of important by-products such as wax and honey, but also for the role they play in pollination and the maintenance of healthy ecosystems.
Coming as I do from the county of Armagh in Northern Ireland, which was well known within the island as the Orchard County, where bees are very necessary to pollinate the apples, and I can say that it is already telling a tale in that particular area. In this regard, the Commission urgently needs to step up its research on what exactly is causing such a sharp decline in the bee population and hopefully come forward with some solutions. The situation will only deteriorate if we cannot find a way to improve bee health and reduce bee mortality and stop the colonies of bees dying and disappearing. This is a source of great concern to all involved, not only within the whole of Europe, but even in the United States and beyond.
I recently addressed a beekeepers’ conference in my region of Northern Ireland and it reaffirmed to me, as I listened to the many contributions during that morning, the concern that the beekeepers have at the loss of their hives, especially during the winter period. We need extra funds to develop through further R&D in an attempt to assess what is the reason for this calamity hitting the beekeepers. If we are doing something wrong, we need to find it out urgently. Is it pesticides, or some other reason? There may be lots of theories and such speculation, but the truth is we do not have the answer, and we need that and to be given the extra support."@en1
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