Addiction to pesticides, a very French disease? "I would like us to go further and to ban non-agricultural uses [of these chemicals] before this summer," said Elisabeth Borne, the Minister of Ecological Transition on France info this Friday. According to a report published on Tuesday by the government, sales have exploded in France over ten years: + 21% between 2009 and 2018.
Figures in the form of failure as France tries to wean itself as well in agriculture, which remains by far the sector where the most phytosanitary products are used, as in green spaces, private gardens ... Since 2017, the law has prohibited municipalities from chemically treating plants. Since 2019, this is also the case for individuals. So what is Elisabeth Borne talking about when she says she wants to ban non-agricultural uses?
“Professionals who operate on private land (gardens, condominiums, etc.) have the right to use chemical pesticides, points out Claudine Joly, from the France nature environment association (FNE). There is something absurd in saying that we have the right to spray it in our gardens, in the parks of our HLMs or our offices when we are concerned about the proximity between the areas of agricultural and residential spreading. "
A series of exceptions
Concretely, if you treat your roses alone, the use of chemicals is strictly prohibited. If, on the other hand, you employ a professional gardener, he will have the right to spray synthetic herbicides or fungicides legally. And this is not the only exception: cemeteries, soccer fields, golf courses, campsites are caught between the cracks and can still be treated with glyphosate or any other chemical.
Senator EELV du Morbihan Joël Labbé, on the initiative of the text banning pesticides, is well aware of the limits of his law. "It was already a performance to pass it in 2014," he believes. We set foot in the door. The strategy is to show farmers that the same substances they use are banned in green spaces and gardens for health and environmental reasons… ”
VIDEO. Banned chemical pesticides: 5 alternative solutions
Several cities have decided to do without these chemicals completely, without waiting for a law to oblige them: Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Nantes… This is also the case of Paris. The City Hall announced this Friday the total ban on synthetic pesticides. At least 600 ha belonging to condominiums or private companies are potentially concerned. "Next week, we will send a letter to the SNCF, the RATP, but also to network operators like GRDF so that they comply with this decree," said Pénélope Komitès, deputy (PS) at the Paris town hall responsible for green spaces , nature and biodiversity.
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Since January 1, the social landlord from Lille Notre Logis has engaged in a proactive approach. "We are replacing chemistry with the hoe," says Arnaud Delannay, its managing director. The manager had an electric shock when he received an email from a tenant. "The image showed one of our gardeners in white protective overalls, of the NBC (nuclear, bacteriological, chemical) type," he describes. I had a blow to the heart when I saw him. Hence his decision to embark on his HLM company in a zero phyto policy. By the way, doing without chemistry creates jobs, because "mechanical" weeding requires more manpower. As an additional positive effect, the social landlord has chosen to rely on an integration company to carry out its work.
Le Parisien, partner of the consultation "How to act together now for the environment?", Initiated by Make.org, invites you to submit your ideas and vote on those of the other participants in the module below. You will be informed of the results in February 2020.