Many councils have commitments to protecting and improving biodiversity in their local areas, but most of them continue to use pesticides. Pesticides are toxic chemicals designed to kill living things, and yet they are the only chemicals deliberately released into the environment. They have been linked to a wide range of negative environmental impacts since the 1960s when Rachel Carson warned the world about an impending ‘Silent Spring’ in which the sounds of nature had been extinguished by pesticides.
Due to habitat loss in the countryside, and the large quantities of pesticides used in UK agriculture, our urban spaces need to be a refuge for our beleaguered wildlife (including birds, insects, bees and hedgehogs). But the overuse of pesticides by councils is destroying many of the areas where they forage for food, and contaminating the natural resources they depend upon.
In addition, pesticides will often run off hard surfaces such as pavements and paths, contaminating water courses and harming aquatic wildlife in the process.
There is more information on how pesticides impact our environment here.