A judge orders to protect bees in Colombia before the threat of extinction

The Colombian judicial system has urged the government to protect bees from the threat of extinction, in a special decision made public Wednesday, which aims to preserve the right of an asylum seeker to consume honey. pure.

Judge Freddy Machado of Cartagena accepted a call for protection and ordered the authorities to adopt environmental policies to protect these insects.

The decision asks the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment to create an agency or appoint a responsible person to "take charge of the issue of bee extinction" and to investigate on what affects "the survival of these pollinators", indicates the decision made by his office.

"If something was not done, we would be left without bees, which is very serious for our survival," said Joaquín Torres, the lawyer who had filed an appeal for protection.

Torres claims its right to life and development of the personality after replacing the sugar for 30 years with honey.

"The drastic reduction in the production and sale of pure honey has made it much harder for me to meet my living standards," said the lawyer in his brief to the courts.

While complying with this request, the judge refrained from banning pesticides, which are cited in a UN study as one of the biggest threats to bees.

For the moment, "there is no evidence to determine the effects attributed to fungicides, herbicides and poisons," said Machado.

Beekeepers and environmentalists emphasized that this decision reinforced awareness campaigns on the phenomenon.

"The prospects in Colombia are serious but recoverable," said President Francisco Silva, who last year presented to Parliament his claim on bees facing the deaths of "thousands and thousands" poisoning caused by pesticides.

In February 2016, UN experts warned that the decline of bees, butterflies and birds, which is essential for crop pollination, is endangering some of the world's agricultural production.

In addition to agrotoxics, the bee population has declined due to intensive agriculture and climate change, according to the UN Environmental Platform.