The debate continues
If you think the pesticide issue is going to go away – think again. With an overabundance of information available to either prove or disprove the harmful effects of pesticides on humans and our environment, the great pesticide debate has taken on a whole new level of significance. What was once a battle between science and emotion, fought on the airwaves and in the pages of our daily newspapers, has evolved into a new era of legal confrontations.
Landscape Trades went across the country to determine how the industry is dealing with new regulations, bans and the very real possibility of new legal precedents governing the use of pesticides, and their predictions for the future.
Integrated Pest Management in BC: An update
By: Rob Adams, IPM Licensing and Certification Coordinator, BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is not a new topic in British Columbia (BC). In fact, BC has promoted IPM through BC Environment and BC Agriculture and various provincial industry groups for the past 10 years.
A key step in the IPM movement occurred in 1991 with the appointment of Dr. Linda Gilkeson, IPM specialist for the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. In this position, Dr. Gilkeson has been a strong advocate of IPM and has encouraged and assisted industry groups, government agencies and individual pest managers to endorse IPM. The following is an overview of IPM in BC and an update of the program over the past decade.
A definition of IPM was incorporated in the BC Pesticide Control Act in 1997 as follows:
Integrated Pest Management – a decision-making process that uses a combination of techniques to suppress pests and which must include but is not limited to the following elements:
- planning and managing ecosystems to prevent organisms from becoming pests;
- identifying potential pest problems;
- monitoring populations of pests and beneficial organisms, pest damage and environmental conditions;
- reducing pest populations to acceptable levels using strategies that may include a combination of biological, physical, cultural, mechanical, behavioural and chemical controls;
- evaluating the effectiveness of treatments.
The goal of the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is to ensure that all pesticides are used only within an IPM program. Experience shows that applying IPM methods eliminates unnecessary pesticide use.
Pest prevention is fundamental to an IPM program. When pests occur, it is necessary to ensure pests are identified and to conduct a monitoring program to determine the numbers of pests and natural enemies present.
A key concept in IPM is that it is necessary to take action only when pest numbers warrant it, not as a routine measure. Deciding when to take action involves establishing an injury level, which is when a pest population causes an unacceptable amount of damage and an action level, which is when a particular control should be applied to keep pest numbers from reaching the injury level. If treatments are warranted, pest managers should consider and ideally use a number of different options, selected to minimize impact on the environment. Finally, evaluation is a critical component to determine what worked and where improvements could be made.
Lack of training and information is often cited as an obstacle to the wider adoption of IPM methods. BC Environment is now incorporating IPM training into the requirements for pesticide applicator certification. A new manual titled IPM Manual for Landscape Pests in BC was prepared in 2000 and is now part of the study package for landscape applicators. This manual describes basis IPM principles as follows:
- a detailed description of IPM components;
- how service providers can move from IPM theory to practical application of IPM;
- pest control me
