*[Enwl-eng] Huge win on bees!!!

[ENWLine]

Dear amazing Avaaz community,

We did it -- Europe just banned bee-killing pesticides!! Mega-corporations
like Bayer threw everything they had at this, but people-power, science and
good governance came out on top!!

Cologne Vanessa Amaral-Rogers from the specialist conservation organisation
Buglife, says:

“It was a close vote, but thanks to a massive mobilisation by Avaaz members,
beekeepers, and others, we won! I have no doubt that the floods of
phonecalls and emails to ministers, the actions in London, Brussels and
Cologne, and the giant petition with 2.6 million signers made this result
possible. Thank you Avaaz, and everyone who worked so hard to save bees!”

Bees pollinate two thirds of all our food -- so when scientists noticed that
silently, they were dying at a terrifying rate, Avaaz swung in to action,
and we kept on swinging until we won. This week’s victory is the result of
two years of flooding ministers with messages, organizing media-grabbing
protests with beekeepers, funding opinion polls and much, much more. Here’s
how we did it, together:

-- Keeping France strong. In January 2011, 1 million people sign our call to
France to uphold its ban on deadly neonicotinoid pesticides. Avaaz members
and beekeepers meet the French agriculture minister and fill the airwaves,
pressing him to face down fierce industry lobbying and keep the ban, sending
a strong signal to other European countries.


-- Tackling industry head on. Bayer has faced Avaaz and allies protesting at
its last three annual meetings. The pesticide giant's managers and investors
are welcomed by beekeepers, loud buzzing, and massive banners with our 1
million plus call on them to suspend use of neonicotinoids until scientists
reviewed their effect on bees. Avaaz even makes a presentation inside the
meeting, but Bayer says 'no'.

-- Making the science count. In January the European Food Safety Agency
finds that three pesticides pose unacceptable risks to bees, and we jump in
to ensure Europe's politicians respond to their scientific experts. Our
petition quickly grows to 2 million signatures. After many talks with EU
decision-makers, Avaaz delivers our call right to the EU HQ in Brussels.
Later that same day, the Commission proposes a two-year ban!

-- Seizing our chance. The battle to save the bees heats up in February and
March. Across the EU, Avaaz members are ready to respond as all 27 EU
countries decide whether to welcome or block the proposal. When farming
giants UK and Germany say they won't vote yes, Avaaz publishes public
opinion polls showing huge majorities of Brits and Germans in favour of the
ban. Avaaz members also send almost half a million emails to EU Agriculture
Ministers. Apparently afraid of dealing with citizens rather than industry
lobbyists, UK minister Owen Paterson complains of a “cyber-attack”, which
journalists turn into a story in our favour! And then comes Bernie -- our 6
metre bee in Brussels -- a powerful visual way to deliver our petition as
negotiations enter the final stages. Journalists flock to Bernie, and we
hear we've helped get the Spanish ministry to look harder at the science and
shift position . But we didn't get the majority we needed to pass the ban.

-- Turning the red light green. In April the bee-saving proposal is sent to
an Appeals Committee, giving us a glimmer of hope if we can switch a few
more countries' positions. In the final sprint, Avaaz teams up with groups
including Environmental Justice Foundation, Friends of the Earth and
Pesticides Action Network, plus beekeepers and famous bee-loving fashion
designers to organise an action outside the UK Parliament. In Germany,
beekeepers launch their own Avaaz petition to their government, signed by
over 150,000 Germans in just two days and delivered in Cologne soon after.
More phone calls rain down on ministries in different capitals as Avaaz
responds to a last-minute wrecking amendment by Hungary, and positions
Bernie the bee again in Brussels. Pesticide companies buy adverts in the
airport to catch arriving officials, and take to the airwaves suggesting
other measures such as planting wild flowers. But their slick messaging
machine is ignored, first Bulgaria then -- the big prize -- Germany switch
their stances and this week we win, with over half of EU countries voting
for the ban!

It’s been a long haul, to get this win, and it wouldn't have been possible
without scientists, specialists, sympathetic officials, beekeepers and our
campaign partners. We can be proud of what we've helped to accomplish
together.

One strong bees advocate, Paul de Zylva, head of the Pesticides and
Pollinators Unit at Friends of the Earth said:
"Thanks to millions of Avaaz members who mobilised online and in the
streets. Without a doubt Avaaz's massive petition and creative campaigning
helped push this over the edge, complementing our work and that of other
NGOs."

It's time to celebrate this breathing space for one of the earth's most
precious and important creatures. But the EU ban is only in place for 2
years pending further review. And around the world bees continue to die from
the pesticides which weaken and confuse them, as well as from loss of
habitat as we plough up and build over the countryside. In Europe and across
the world there's lots of work to do to ensure sound science guides our
farming and environmental policies. And we're just the community for the
job. :)

With hope and happiness,

Ricken, Iain, Joseph, Emily, Alex, Michelle, Aldine, Julien, Anne, Christoph
and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS: Let's keep this going -- chip in to ensure we can launch rapid-fire,
multi-tactic campaigns on the issues we all care about:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/bees_victory/?bYBHtab&v=24665

PPS: Many Avaaz campaigns -- like the German beekeeper one this month -- are
started by individuals or groups of members. Just click here to see how easy
it is to start yours right now:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?rba13

SOURCES

The bees story, and Avaaz's role, have been mentioned in hundreds of
articles. Here's a small selection:

EU bans pesticides over bee fears (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/04/29/eu-bans-pesticides-over-bee-fears?videoId=242537247&videoChannel=5

Bee-harming pesticides escape proposed European ban (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/15/bee-harming-pesticides-escape-european-ban

EU says it will push through better bee protections after members disagree
over pesticides (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/eu-says-it-will-push-through-better-bee-protections-after-members-disagree-over-pesticides/2013/04/29/eea31ecc-b0d4-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story.html

Save the bees: Protesters swarm around Parliament in support of pesticides
ban (Mirror)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/save-bees-protesters-swarm-around-1855996

Historic vote to ban neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for huge decline in
bees (The Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/historic-vote-to-ban-neonicotinoid-pesticides-blamed-for-huge-decline-in-bees-8591807.html

EU to ban pesticides linked to bee decline (Al Jazeera)
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/04/2013429133837540126.html

European Union imposes ban on pesticides linked to bee deaths (RFI)

http://www.english.rfi.fr/environment/20130429-european-union-imposes-ban-pesticides-linked-bee-deaths

EU to ban bee-killing pesticides (EU Observer)
http://euobserver.com/environment/119979Avaaz.org is a 21-million-person
global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of
the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or
"song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world;
our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17
languages.

Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/highlights.php/?footer"> or follow us on facebook
here: http://www.facebook.com/Avaaz or twitter here:
http://twitter.com/Avaaz
To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us
via the form at http://www.avaaz.org/en/contact. You can also call us at
+1-888-922-8229 (US).



From: "Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org" <av...@avaaz.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:14 PM
Subject: Huge win on bees!!!


------------- * ENWL * ------------
Ecological North West Line * St. Petersburg, Russia
Independent Environmental Net Service: http://www.bellona.ru/enwl/
Russian: ENWL(discussions), ENWL-inf(FSU information), ENWL-misc(any topics)
English: ENWL-eng (world information)
en...@lew.spb.org, enwl...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org
Subscription, Moderator: vf...@lew.spb.org or en...@enw.net.ru
Archive: http://enwl.bellona.ru/pipermail/
and http://groups.google.com/group/enwl/
SEE ALSO: http://www.bellona.org (English)and http://www.bellona.ru
(Russian)
RSS: http://groups.google.ru/group/enwl/feeds?hl=ru
(C) Please refer to exclusive articles of ENWL
-------------------------------------
ONLY if your address is subscribed:
Enwl-eng mailing list
Enwl...@enwl.bellona.ru
http://enwl.bellona.ru/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/enwl-eng