Pesticides from the helicopter: Danger for the Moselle Apollofalter!

Pesticides from the helicopter: Danger for the Moselle Apollofalter!

In the steep wine layers on the Moselle, pesticides can also be sprayed by helicopter in 2023. The Koblenz Administrative Court decided this by rejecting an urgent application from German Environmental Aid (DUH) against the operation. The DUH sees pesticides a central cause of the threatening decline in the Moselle Apollo, one of the rarest daily species in Europe, which is under the highest European protection status. Despite this worrying development, the DUH checks whether it will file a complaint against the court decision.

The approval for the helicopter sprays was granted by the supervisory and service directorate in Rhineland-Palatinate. The sprays usually start shortly before the flight time of the Moselle Apollo, which is active between mid-May and the end of June. Critics criticize that the approval of the injections was granted despite the ongoing legal proceedings and without notice.

The relevance of the Moselle Apollofalter

The DUH argues that the pesticide injections are a significant threat to the Moselle Apollo age, the occurrence of which is already severely restricted. The environmentalists assume that the use of fungicides, which also include PFAs (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), has negative effects on biodiversity. These chemicals are known as "eternity chemicals" and have proven to be dangerous for the environment.

The use of pesticides from the air has been banned in Germany since 2011, but this regulation provides for exceptions, especially in viticulture on the steep slopes of the Moselle. Rhineland-Palatinate regularly gives exceptional permits, which, however, are contested by the DUH and the Rheinisch-Westfälische lepidopterologist. The DUH also criticizes that in the past there were no sufficient measures by the federal and state governments to protect the Moselle Apollo.

legal situation in crop protection

The regulations in German crop protection are comprehensive and are determined by EU law and national law. The Plant Protection Act as well as several regulations, such as Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009, regulate the marketing of pesticides and their application. According to Directive 2009/128/EC, the Member States are obliged to adopt national action plans for the sustainable application of pesticides.

Wine tree minister Daniela Schmitt (FDP) defends the use of pesticides and emphasizes that steep slopes on the Moselle cannot be continued without these means. The Ministry states that when the injections approved the necessary crop protection law and nature conservation requirements were observed. Nevertheless, the fate of the Moselle Apollo remains uncertain, while both environmentalists and the winegrowers are fighting for the future of the region.

In the coming weeks, it will be crucial whether the DUH will continue to drive the procedure and whether further measures will be taken to protect the Moselle Apollo. The debate about crop protection has a high level of relevance in this region, not only for nature conservation, but also for agriculture as a whole.