{"id":17828,"date":"2016-04-06T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T04:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=17828"},"modified":"2016-04-06T09:24:50","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T13:24:50","slug":"villanova-pivots-to-neonic-free-joins-bee-protective-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2016\/04\/villanova-pivots-to-neonic-free-joins-bee-protective-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Villanova Pivots to Neonic-Free, Joins Bee Protective Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides April 6, 2016) Hot off the heels of the NCAA basketball tournament, a national title is not the only thing Villanova University has to celebrate this week. The campus, located near Philadelphia, PA, recently became the second school in the nation to receive recognition from the Beyond Pesticides\u2019 and Center for Food Safety\u2019s BEE Protective<\/strong> Campaign, which seeks to protect honey bees and other pollinators from harmful pesticides. Signing the BEE Protective<\/strong> pledge, Villanova signaled its continued commitment to using neonicotinoid-free insecticides on campus, making them one of the leading higher education institutions committed to the protection of pollinator species.<\/p>\n

\"villanova_ignite_smaller\"\u201cFor Villanova, sustainability is not just about energy and recycling,\u201d said Liesel Schwarz, Villanova\u2019s Sustainability Manager. \u201cWe look to make all aspects of campus life sustainable, including how we treat our campus grounds. This recognition only further solidifies the wonderful work our grounds department has done to not only make the campus beautiful and inviting for people, but also for pollinators.\u201d Villanova maintains more than fifty pollinator-friendly plants on campus, including aster, black-eyed Susans, milkweed and mint.<\/p>\n

Along with planting pollinator-friendly habitat, the elimination of neonicotinoid pesticides on campus is an exemplary move by Villanova to protect pollinators. Neonicotinoids<\/a> are a group of chemicals whose use has been linked to pollinator declines. They can kill and impair the survival of pollinators like honey bees, wild bees, and butterflies, as well as impact beneficial insects, birds, and other non-insect species. Coinciding with their introduction to the market based on conditional registration<\/a> from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), beekeepers have reported unprecedented losses, as high as 90 percent, in hives across the country. Since we rely on many of these organisms for essential services, like the pollination of a third of the foods we eat, protecting their existence by eliminating neonicotinoids is a key tenet of the BEE Protective <\/strong>pledge.<\/p>\n

BEE Protective<\/strong> is a national campaign established by Beyond Pesticides and the Center for Food Safety, and works with municipalities, campuses, and homeowners to adopt policies that protect pollinators from bee-toxic pesticides. \u00a0In addition to scientific and regulatory information, \u00a0BEE Protective<\/strong> \u00a0also includes a model community pollinator resolution and a pollinator protection pledge. \u00a0 The BEE Protective Campaign gives you the tools to help honey bees and other pollinators right in your own community. Here are some ways you can take action:<\/p>\n