Title: Canada's' City of Victoria Pesticide Reduction Bylaw
[TWN 25 July 2013] -- In February 2008, the City of Victoria, Canada became the first municipality in the Capital Region to adopt a bylaw to regulate the use of pesticides on residential and public property. Enforcement of the bylaw began January 2009.The Pesticide Use Reduction Bylaw is in place to protect the natural environment by regulating and reducing the non-essential (cosmetic) use of pesticides, specifically on lawns, trees, shrubs, and flowers, to beautify residential and public property. The bylaw still allows pesticides to be used on hard landscaping surfaces such as driveways, sidewalks, curbs, and gutters, as well as on or inside buildings. A pesticide can be long lived. It often spreads from where it is applied and can easily move through the air, land and water to our lakes, streams and ocean. Although an individual lawn or garden may seem quite small, the cumulative effect of pesticide use on many lawns and gardens can have a significant impact on a neighbourhood and our environment.
Pests are often a symptom of an imbalance in an ecosystem. An IPM program attempts to plan and manage ecosystems to prevent organisms from becoming pests. The City of Victoria also uses IPM principles in the design and construction of landscapes to:
maximize the use of naturally occurring forces (i.e. soil preparation and mulching, attracting beneficial predators, sustainable garden design, etc.);
minimize the potential for pest problems, thereby avoiding the need for curative measures;
minimize the risk to human health and the environment; and
minimize the reliance upon chemical pesticides.
As a result of the City's IPM program, Parks staff has seen a decrease of 97.25% in the use of chemical pesticides (by comparing the total chemical product used by weight per year prior to the IPM program versus after the establishment of the IPM program). Climate change is providing new pest pressures to Victoria's landscapes. Using problem solving methods inherent to integrated pest management has better equipped Parks staff to meet these challenges. Encouraging and promoting IPM strategies within BC is one of the primary goals of the Pesticide Branch of the BC Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks. Since 1994, it has been a requirement that Pest Control Service Licensees in the public sector submit Pest Management Plans with their applications for landscape pest control licenses. The City of Victoria's Pest Management Plans were used as a template and teaching example for the institution of Pest Management Plans throughout the Province
Something for all local councils to think about and institute. If your local council is working on pesticide reduction policies please send in their link to include on database.