KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – The province has issued permits for the spraying of glyphosate on some 938 hectares (2300 acres) in rural Nova Scotia.
Affected woodlots are in Hants, Cumberland, Guysborough, Inverness and Colchester Counties. The individual permits and a summary document are posted on the Department of Environment website. Both ground and aerial applications are included in the approvals.
See also: News brief: CN announces start of herbicide spraying on its right of ways, but keeps mum on details
During previous years similar glyphosate applications were controversial, with many residents of rural Nova Scotia worried about unwanted effects on their own health and the forests’ ecosystem.
These concerns were shrugged off by the department, and forestry companies which use the herbicide to facilitate clearcutting. Scientists are divided on whether the herbicide is safe and many of its long term effects on woodlands, soils and animals remain unknown.
Glyphosate was found to be “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015.
Defenders of glyphosate have focused on the supposedly negligible risks of the herbicide to humans. Nonetheless, mandatory signs in the areas to be sprayed are warning people not to eat berries. Do birds know to read these signs?
And did we tell the earthworms to vacate the premises prior to spraying? A report by the British Soil Association suggests that in terms of glyphosate’s impact on soil ecosystems we know very little.
See also: Northern Pulp’s proposed glyphosate spraying, not just bad for your health
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How can I stop this spray from going on my wood lot. The wind will carry the spray to all water ways, Lakes, streams and rivers. Birds will die, wild life will be affected.
My husband has lung cancer and I have recently had cancer removed from my leg.I still need treatment and have VON visits daily. Please stop spraying, some of us value life more than money.
Herbicide use in forestry is based on the idiotic notion that man can grow a better forest than nature, therefor , herbiciding justifies over harvesting. The forestry cult claim that pioneer hardwoods compete with softwoods for nutrients and water , while science shows that pioneer hardwoods host the nitrogen fixing bacteria essential for tree and forest health .Forest management in Canada is a disaster predicated on bad theories and an overwhelming level of ignorance of forest ecology by “foresters”
This is appalling!!! What research has been done on the distribution of this chemical? Airborne…really??? How is that ok??? Are there alternatives? More importantly…what are the short and long term effects on humans and then wildlife? And at what cost???? When our medical system is already is crisis are you not contributing to this crisis by aiding and contributing to health problems? It can take years to determine that Round up contributed to the cancer rate in the prairie provinces before it was finally taken off the shelf; although folks still find ways to use it. Why are we ‘passive’ and condoning this crap that will inevitably kill us?????
I hope Nova Scotians like their lakes looking like this.
http://www.ecowatch.com/glyphosate-sprayed-on-gmo-crops-linked-to-lake-eries-toxic-algae-bloom-1906543478.html
Stop the spraying. Nova Scotia government is ridiculous and irresponsible. If government wants to do something useful, then control the spread of the tick population and plant wildflower seeds to help the bees. We need pollination, clean water, plants and animals. Stop bending for big companies to make more money and destroy our future.