Summary and conclusions

Konsulentordning til kommuner, regioner og statslige institutioner for at afvikle brugen af pesticider på det offentlige areal – Sammenfattende rapport

As a consequence of the pesticide agreement between the Danish municipalities, the Regions, and the State, a consultancy arrangement concerning the phasing out of pesticides has been established. In accordance with the pesticide agreement, the respective organisations undertake to phase out the use of pesticides on all public areas. This of course not only includes the maintenance of public areas, but also activities on areas leased to other parties, etc. However, it is possible to obtain a dispensation from the agreement, especially for the control of the giant hogweed.

The consultancy arrangement has been in operation in 2007 and 2008. The main focus has been on the pesticide agreement and the consultancy arrangement by published articles, and by written communication and telephone contact to involved parties. Another central element in the consultancy agreement has been the establishment of a collection of relevant literature, which has been distributed to the organisations concerned. Finally, actual consultancy assistance has been provided in the form of advisory support by telephone or at meetings.

The above mentioned activities have achieved the following goals:

Detailed knowledge and focus on the pesticide agreement within the respective organisations.
Extensive knowledge sharing between relevant public organisations.
A number of municipalities have initiated phasing out of pesticides.

Finally, the project has provided a much better knowledge of the use of pesticides by the local authorities, and of the barriers that need to be overcome to achieve phasing out of the use of pesticides on public areas. The most important barriers are:

Lack of overview of the organisation within the involved authority.
Start up difficulties (partly due to the lack of overview, partly financially).

Furthermore, it has been established that the need for control of invasive species might lead to a future potential increase in use of pesticides.