Eco Hvar

Pesticides, Laws and Permits

This is a guide to the systems governing chemical pesticide regulation, registers and laws, with an overview of some of the many problems arising from pesticide use.

Pesticides, Laws and Permits

Use the links and references in the article to check on the current situation in official sources. For a list of chemical pesticides commonly used on Hvar and elsewhere in Croatia, including their scientifically proven possible adverse effects, please see our article 'Pesticides and their adverse effects'.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Chemical pesticides are used in massive quantities around the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concern about Pesticide residues in food (February 2018) : 
  • Pesticides are potentially toxic to humans and can have both acute and chronic (long-term) health effects, depending on the quantity and ways in which a person is exposed.
  • Some of the older, (often cheaper version) pesticides can remain for years in soil and water. These chemicals have been banned from agricultural use in developed countries, but they are still used in many developing countries.
  • People who face the greatest health risks from exposure to pesticides are those who handle them or come into contact with them at work, in their home or garden.

As is recognized in Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 : "biocidal products can pose risks to humans, animals and the environment due to their intrinsic properties and associated use patterns." Information about potential hazards and long-term effects is vital for all those involved in the manufacture of pesticides, all those who handle pesticides in the marketplace, all those who use pesticides in fields or gardens - and all the consumers who buy products of any kind which have been treated with pesticides. In short, everyone needs to understand all the issues at stake in relation to pesticides.

EXCERPTS FROM THE EUROPEAN LAWS & REGULATIONS GOVERNING PESTICIDES

The words are fine, but how many of the worthy principles enshrined in law are honoured in practice? Answer: very few

1. THE RIGHT TO KNOW

"EU citizens should have access to information about chemicals to which they may be exposed, in order to allow them to make informed decisions about their use of chemicals. A transparent means of achieving this is to grant them free and easy access to basic data held in the Agency's database, including brief profiles of hazardous properties, labelling requirements and relevant Community legislation including authorised uses and risk management measures." (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Introduction. clause 117)

"Every European citizen has the right to know how the food they eat is produced, processed, packaged, labelled and sold." (European Commission, Food Safety)

2. THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

In European law: "The precautionary principle is an approach to risk management, where, if it is possible that a given policy or action might cause harm to the public or the environment and if there is still no scientific agreement on the issue, the policy or action in question should not be carried out. However, the policy or action may be reviewed when more scientific information becomes available. The principle is set out in Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)."

"The concept of the precautionary principle was first set out in a European Commission communication adopted in February 2000, which defined the concept and envisaged how it would be applied.

The precautionary principle may only be invoked if there is a potential risk and may not be used to justify arbitrary decisions. Examples of where the EU has applied the precautionary principle include its regulatory framework for chemicals (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 — known as REACH) and the general regulation on food law (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002)."

3. REGISTRATION AND AUTHORIZATION OF PESTICIDES

i) Biocidal substances and products

Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 covered the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (known as REACH) and the establishment of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), while amending and repealing various previous Directives and Regulations. This Regulation came about because of "a number of problems in the functioning of Community legislation on chemicals, resulting in disparities between the laws, regulations and administrative provisions in Member States directly affecting the functioning of the internal market in this field, and the need to do more to protect public health and the environment in accordance with the precautionary principle" (Introduction, item 9).

Basic principles enshrined in Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006:

"This Regulation is based on the principle that it is for manufacturers, importers and downstream users to ensure that they manufacture, place on the market or use such substances that do not adversely affect human health or the environment. Its provisions are underpinned by the precautionary principle." (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006: Title 1, Chapter 1, Aim Scope and Application, article 1, 3.)

Regulation (EU) No 528/2012: "Biocidal products are necessary for the control of organisms that are harmful to human or animal health and for the control of organisms that cause damage to natural or manufactured materials. However, biocidal products can pose risks to humans, animals and the environment due to their intrinsic properties and associated use patterns."

Biocidal products are authorized in two stages, firstly by evaluation of the toxic active ingredients, then by approval of the product itself. The second stage, according to the ECHA information on biocides: "All biocidal products containing approved active substances are evaluated for safety and efficacy before they are allowed to be sold in the EU. However, products that were on the market before 2000 can continue to be sold while the authorities are evaluating the active substances they contain."

ECHA: Understanding BPR [biocidal products regulations] "All biocidal products require an authorisation before they can be placed on the market, and the active substances contained in that biocidal product must be previously approved. There are, however, certain exceptions to this principle. For example, biocidal products containing active substances in the Review Programme can be made available on the market and used (subject to national laws) pending the final decision on the approval of the active substance (and up to 3 years after). Products containing new active substances that are still under assessment may also be allowed on the market where a provisional authorisation is granted."

ECHA: Approval of active substances: "Active substances need to be approved before an authorisation for a biocidal product containing them can be granted. The active substances are first assessed by an evaluating Member State competent authority and the results of these evaluations are forwarded to ECHA's Biocidal Products Committee, which prepares an opinion within 270 days. The opinion serves as the basis for the decision on approval which is adopted by the European Commission. The approval of an active substance is granted for a defined number of years, not exceeding 10 years and is renewable. The BPR introduces formal exclusion and substitution criteria which apply to the evaluation of active substances.

    1. Exclusion criteria
In principle, active substances meeting the exclusion criteria will not be approved .
This includes:
  • carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances categories 1A or 1B according to the CLP Regulation
  • endocrine disruptors
  • persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances
  • very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances"
BUT: "Derogations are foreseen, in particular when the active substance may be needed on the grounds of public health or of public interest when no alternatives are available. In this case, approval of an active substance is granted for a maximum of five years (also for active substances where the assessment report was submitted before 1 September 2013, as per the transitional provisions)."

    1. "Active substances which are candidates for substitution

The objective of this provision is to identify substances of particular concern to public health or the environment and to ensure that these substances are phased-out and replaced by more suitable alternatives over time.
The criteria are based on the intrinsic hazardous properties in combination with the use. An active substance will be considered as a candidate for substitution if any of the following criteria are met:
  • It meets at least one of the exclusion criteria.
  • It is classified as a respiratory sensitiser.
  • Its toxicological reference values are significantly lower than those of the majority of approved active substances for the same product-type and use.
  • It meets two of the criteria to be considered as PBT.
  • It causes concerns for human or animal health and for the environment even with very restrictive risk management measures.
  • It contains a significant proportion of non-active isomers or impurities."

ii) 'Plant protection' substances and products

The European Commission, which is responsible for Food Safety, sets out the conditions for the Approval of active substances: "The Member States, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Commission evaluate every active substance for safety before it can be placed on the market and used in a plant protection product. At least one use of the substances in plant protection products must be proven safe for people's health, including their residues in food, for animal health and must not have any unacceptable effects on the environment before a substance can be approved, where relevant subject to conditions or restrictions."

PESTICIDE LABELLING AND WARNINGS

The Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (still in force, 2023) governs pesticide labelling according to the United Nations system. It is explained in the European Chemicals Agency website.
There are in the region of one hundred official 'Hazard Statements' warning of pesticide products' potential adverse effects and innumerable 'Precautionary Statements'. These are required for the labelling of potentially harmful registered pesticide products. Dangers are listed in Data Safety Sheets and on the labels of individual products. Dangers are designated in categories, with a code given for each. Oddly, dangers to bees and non-target organisms are not included within the main hazard warnings, but in a sub-category headed SPe. For more details of labelling requirements, please see our article 'Pesticide Products in Croatia'.

PESTICIDE ADVERTISING

Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008, Title VII, Article 48:

1.Any advertisement for a substance classified as hazardous shall mention the hazard classes or hazard categories concerned.
2. Any advertisement for a mixture classified as hazardous or covered by Article 25(6) which allows a member of the general public to conclude a contract for purchase without first having sight of the label shall mention the type or types of hazard indicated on the label.

PESTICIDES IN THE FOOD CHAIN

"Every European citizen has the right to know how the food they eat is produced, processed, packaged, labelled and sold." (European Commission: Food Safety). This should mean that all chemical pesticides used at any stage of production should be openly declared for the consumer to see. In practice this does not happen.

Chemical pesticides are a lucrative business, promoted through powerful marketing and political clout. Pesticide control is complicated at international, national and local levels. Public information is vital. Pesticide vendors and users should be fully aware of what they are dealing with. Consumers, the end-users, need to be told what substances have been used in the production and packaging of foodstuffs and personal hygiene products. When pesticides are approved for the market, the first area of concern is that the safety and efficacy studies which support an application are produced by the commercial companies: these are usually unpublished papers, whereas independent studies published in peer-reviewed journals are hardly, if ever, taken into account. On approval, for pesticides which are likely to enter the food chain, so-called 'safe' levels are established as the maximum amounts which can be present in crops and foodstuffs without jeopardizing health. The 2015 report produced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that only 15% of 10,187 sample foodstuffs tested were free of pesticide traces, while over 99% contained residues, albeit below the tolerances established by the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported that of 84,657 samples tested in 2016, 96.2% were within the limits set by EU legislation and 50.7% were free of quantifiable residues, while legal limits were exceeded in 2.4% of the samples from EU and EEA countries, and 7.2% from non-EU countries.

Are Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) a guarantee of safety? There are drawbacks: 1) MRLs do not cover the effect of a combination of poisons in foods, if, as is usual, 'conventional' crops have been treated with several different types of pesticide; 2) inspections in different countries (eg Kuwait) all too often discover pesticide residues above permitted levels, not to mention banned pesticides, in foodstuffs (eg Denmark, 2017); 3) MRLs have an alarming tendency to be raised, quite often for marketing reasons, as with glyphosate in 2013, lasaloocid in 2015, and Fipronil in 2024, to name but three examples; 4) it is worrying that commercial pesticide manufacturers can ask for MRLs to be raised, eg Syngenta's request in 2012 for a significant increase in permitted levels of neonicotinaoid insecticide residues in olives, artichokes and cauliflower (EFSA Journal 10 (11) 2990); 5) on one hand it is good that the setting of MRLs is reviewed periodically, as in the EFSA paper 'Scientific opinion on pesticides in foods for infants and young children' (EFSA Journal, May 2018), but on the other hand this brings the worry that MRLs in infant foods were incorrectly set for years previously. 

Contamination of water sources and therefore drinking water by pesticides is another major area of concern, for which the World Health Organisation has drawn up widereaching guidelines. The EU has Directives governing drinking water quality, while in the United States the EPA has set more specific Maximum Contamination Levels for different kinds of pollutants. On the ground, pesticide users must be aware of the dangers of groundwater contamination, not only when applying pesticides, but also when disposing of excess or outdated poisons and discarding pesticide packaging. 

PESTICIDE REGISTERS

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) lists approvals of active biocidal substances and products. Its website is the primary source of information about the laws and regulations governing biocidal pesticides and their approval processes. You can check its list of substances which are approved or under review, or you can check on active ingredients and approved products on the ECHA 'biocidal products' page, by typing the name of the active ingredient in the box marked 'Active Substance Name' or the name of a pesticide product in the box marked 'Product Name'. The listing is updated regularly. Herbicides and agricultural fungicides are not included in this listing because they are classified as 'plant protection' products.

The European Commission: The EU Pesticides Database lists 'plant protection' active substances and permitted residual levels in foodstuiffs.

The EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) compiles a Listing of national databases of 'plant protection' pesticides

The Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Croatia: Lists Registered 'Plant Protection' Products. It used to include a section on substances which are no longer approved, listed by year, but this is no longer available in 2021.

The Ministry of Health (MIZ) controls and compiles a Register of biocidal products which can be marketed in Croatia -you can access the latest version of the register via the Ministry website on this link: Croatian Ministry of Health (this is in Croatian only, in document form, it is not a database). In 2016, the Ministry of Health issued a list of pesticides which were allowed to be released in the Croatian market up to September 1st 2015 (NN 15/2016, link in Crioatian). Applications to be included in the current register are made to the Ministry of Health. Be warned: products may be listed which are not fully authorized in the EU, although they may still be allowed for use under the extraordinary loopholes in the ECHA regulations (see the excerpts from EU laws and regulations below). See our article 'Pesticide Products in Croatia' for more details.

The Croatian Institute of Toxicology and Anti-doping: About the Institute. The Institute collects data, advises the Ministry of Health, and carries out educational training programmes on matters relating to poisonings.

University of Hertfordshire: Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB) - database listing pesticide chemical identity, physicochemical, human health and ecotoxicological data.

University of Hertfordshire: Bio-Pesticide Database (BPDB) - database of data relating to pesticides derived from natural substances.

PubChem Open Chemistry Database. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information. Comprehensive technical information about chemical substances, including toxicity.

List of banned pesticides by active substances, and pesticide watchlist (2015), UTZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands

United States of America: the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) launched Pesticide Info, a register of pesticides used in the USA, together with details of toxicity and authorizations, in April 2021. The search options allow you to check chemical active ingredients or named products.

United States National Library of Medicine: Toxnet. Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health  and toxic releases.

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Pesticide Registration, Inert Ingredients Overview and Guidance.

OFFICIAL PROCEDURES GOVERNING PESTICIDE REGISTRATION AND USE IN CROATIA

European Commission: Approval of Active Substances (EU link concerning 'plant protection' products)

European Chemicals Agency : Authorization of biocidal products

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Prevention and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides.

The Croatian Agriculture Ministry is the main coordinator for registering 'plant protection' pesticides and issuing permits for them. Documentation is checked for completness, and then submitted to one of the two registered authorities / institutions named below for a document and risk assessment. This authority may then ask for further documented evidence and information. Communications with the applicant are coordinated through the Agriculture Ministry. When the documentation is satisfactory, the registered authority submits its proposal for registration to the Agriculture Ministry for enactment.

The Croatian Centre for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (as of 1st January 2019 the Croatian Agency for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): Institute for Plant Protection. This Institution department evaluates active ingredients and substances in pesticides and their efficacy, establishes analytical methods, studies pesticide residues in foods and the behaviour of pesticides in the environment, ecotoxicology, and assesses the exposure of operators, workers and others involved in pesticide use.   

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health. This Institute at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture prepares documentation for pesticides regarding registration, obtaining certain permits, extending registrations, and expanding registration for small-scale operations. it also provides scientific opinions on mammal toxicology and exposure risks for operators, workers and others involved in pesticide use.  

The Croatian Ministry for Environmental Protection and Energetics is responsible for creating conditions for sustainable development, including "tasks related to protection and conservation of the environment and nature in line with the sustainable development policy of the Republic of Croatia, as well as tasks related to water management and administrative and other tasks from the field of energy." Although soil, air, water and sea quality lies within its remit, it does not include specific projects relating to pesticides.

FURTHER SOURCES OF ADVICE ON PESTICIDE USE IN CROATIA

Hrvatska polioprivredno-šumarska savjetodavna služba (Croatian Agriculture and Woodland Advisory Service): 'Plant protection' (in Croatian)

Agroklub: Pesticides. A selective database of pesticides available in Croatia (in Croatian); no adverse effects listed; the list may not be totally up to date. The list of Agroklub partners iincludes several agrochemical companies.

INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS GOVERNING PESTICIDE USE

SOME RELEVANT EU LAWS:

European Chemicals Agency: REACH (Registration, evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) - an explanation

Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC

 
Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides (Text with EEA relevance)
 
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC

Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products Text with EEA relevance

Decision No 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’ Text with EEA relevance

Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals Text with EEA relevance

Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament of the Council of 26 October 2016 on protective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC

Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/605 of 19 April 2018 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 by setting out scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine disrupting properties (Text with EEA relevance. )

Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/605 of 19 April 2018 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 by setting out scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine disrupting properties (OJ L 101, 20.4.2018)

COMMISSION REGULATION (eu) 2019/521 of 27 March 2019  amending, for the purposes of its adaptation to technical and scientific progress Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2023/707 of 19 December 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 as regards hazard classes and criteria for the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures.

SOME OF THE CROATIAN LAWS

Ministarstvo poljoprivedbe RH: Propisi - Sredstva za zaštitu bilja; ostaci pesticida; održiva uporaba pesticida; zdravstvena zaštita bilja.  Croatian Agriculture Ministry: Regulations governing 'plant protection' products; pesticide residues; sustainable use of pesticides; plant health protection (in Croatian)

Ministarstvo zdravstva zakonodavstvo: Ministry of Health (website in Croatian only).  Laws governing chemicals and biocidal substances; import and export of dangerous chemicals; disease prevention; preventive disinfection, insect and vermin suppression measures; and safety in the workplace.

Ministarstvo zdravstva RH: Kemikalije i biocidni pripravci - Croatian Ministry of Health: Chemicals and Biocidal Products, regulated according to EU laws (website in Croatian only)

Ministarstvo zaštite okoliša i energetike RH; Propisi i međunarodni ugovori. Croatian Ministry for Environmental Protection and Energetics: Regulations and International Contracts: environmental protection; air quality protection; climate and ozone layer protection; waste management; nature protection; sea and coastal region protection (in Croatian)

Croatian Institute for Public Health: Laws and Regulations. Laws (in Croatian) relating to the prevention of transmissible diseases include the use of pesticides.

© Vivian Grisogono 2018, updated June 2023

back to top
You are here: Home poisons be aware Pesticides, Laws and Permits

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Ed Miliband confirms crackdown on North Sea exploration – but new drilling will continue

    Strategy paper released with budget allows new oil and gas projects to move ahead if they are linked to existing fields

    The government has ruled out new North Sea oil and gas exploration or lower taxes for fossil fuel companies as it struggles to protect workers from the industry’s collapse.

    In a strategy paper, Ed Miliband confirmed the crackdown on new North Sea exploration – although the energy secretary will still allow new offshore fossil fuel projects to move ahead as long as they are linked to existing fields.

    Continue reading...

  • The bird people of Lake Manchar: surviving in a vanishing oasis

    The Mohana of Pakistan’s Sindh province once thrived on the lake but pollution and drought have caused the fragile ecosystem to collapse, along with their way of life

    At the mouth of Lake Manchar, gentle lapping disturbs the silence. A small boat cuts through the water, propelled by a bamboo pole scraping the muddy bottom of the canal.

    Bashir Ahmed manoeuvres his frail craft with agility. His slender boat is more than just a means of transport. It is the legacy of a people who live to the rhythm of water: the Mohana. They have lived for generations on the waters of Lake Manchar in Sindh province, a vast freshwater mirror covering nearly 250 sq km. The lake, once the largest in Pakistan, was long an oasis of life. Now, it is dying.

    Bashir Ahmed in his boat on the lake, next to simple huts built on top of the right bank outfall drain

    Continue reading...

  • Plastic nurdles found at 84% of UK sites of special scientific interest

    Environmental charity Fidra says 168 of 195 SSSIs it surveyed are contaminated with tiny pellets

    Plastic nurdles have been found in 84% of important nature sites surveyed in the UK.

    Nurdles are tiny pellets that the plastics industry uses to make larger products. They were found in 168 of 195 sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), so named because of the rare wildlife they harbour. They are given extra protections in an effort to protect them from pollution.

    Continue reading...

  • Protests, tears and a baby: five key images that tell the story of Cop30

    Emotions ran high at the UN climate summit in Brazil, which was hit by its first major protest in four years

    It was a tense moment. A group of about 50 people from the Munduruku, an Indigenous people in the Amazon basin, had blocked the entrance to the Cop30 venue in protest, causing long lines of delegates to snake down access roads, simmering in the morning heat.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘It’s heartbreaking’: how 30 captive beluga whales have become pawns in row over animal cruelty

    As the government, Marineland of Canada and activists remain at loggerheads over whales’ fate, health and freedom of beloved animals hangs in balance

    Jelly Bean’s son Bertie Botts is an adorable little “ham sandwich”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a heart of gold.

    Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and animal rights activists.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘A precarious position’: almost 3,000 species at risk of disappearing from Wales, report finds

    Environmental body says modest investment and changes can help preserve long list of animals, fungi and lichen

    Almost 3,000 species ranging from glorious birds to tiny lichen are in peril in Wales because they are clinging on in a handful of locations or even fewer, a groundbreaking report has revealed.

    The report from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) highlights that, since the millennium, 11 species have already been lost to Cymru, including the turtle dove and belted beauty moth. It warns that 2,955 other terrestrial or freshwater species are at serious risk because they are confined to five locations or fewer.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Once a plain old field, now a thriving forest garden | Anita Roy

    Wellington, Somerset: The five years we’ve spent transforming this patch has been recognised with an RHS award. We’re proud, but we’re not done yet

    Volunteers from Transition Town Wellington (TTW) are out in the rain on Fox’s Field this morning – there’s always work to be done, whatever the weather. Five years back, this 8.5-acre field was just rough grass and nettles; today, it’s a thriving forest garden encircled by a food hedge, or “fedge”. Saplings we’d planted as knee‑high muddy twigs now spread their branches above us. There are winding woodchip pathways, a riot of herbs, seven‑foot high cardoons holding their fat black seedheads up to the lowering sky.

    We’re clearing the grass and old hay from on top of the black plastic clearance mulch, heaving it into wheelbarrows and piling it up into new heaps to make compost for next year’s mulch.

    Continue reading...

  • $10 for a pair of used tongs? When secondhand prices are higher than new

    For op shops, setting prices is a delicate balance. Too high and they risk pricing out customers, too low and it becomes difficult to cover costs

    I was at a tip shop looking for a whisk, expecting to find one for $1, maybe $2, when a small pair of tongs caught my eye. The price, written on the metal with permanent marker, was $10.

    I snapped a photo and sent it to a group of op-shopping friends. “Tip shop pricing!” I wrote. “Tell ’em they’re dreamin’,” one quipped. After all, a pair on Kmart’s website that looked the same – but cleaner – cost $1.75.

    Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

    Continue reading...

  • A moment that changed me: I adopted a koala, he bit me – and I remembered something important about myself

    As I watched the news about Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2020 I felt compelled to help. It was the start of a new relationship with nature, and a reminder of my childhood joie de vivre

    As hookup sites go, it was in another league. I was looking for a different kind of soulmate and I was spoilt for choice. Would it be Floyd, “a stylish poser and a winner of hearts”? Or Bobby, “who loves cuddling and is a bit of a showoff”? Or could it be the “beautiful and incredibly sweet Morris with a gentle nature”? One stood out. Not only was he “very affectionate” but he was also “a bit of a troublemaker – always exploring and often found sitting on the rocks”. Just what I was looking for; I swiped right. That’s how I met Jarrah. My koala.

    A month before, in 2020, I’d seen a newsflash about the bushfires in Australia. The effect on the continent’s wildlife was devastating. An estimated 61,000 koalas had been killed or injured among 143 million other native mammals. There were two things I felt I could do from the UK: one was to make koala mittens to protect their burnt paws (following a pattern I found online); and two, I could adopt a koala and send monthly donations to protect them in the wild. So I joined the Australian Koala Foundation, which is dedicated to the marsupials’ survival.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Taking back the desert’: can Australia’s small marsupials learn how to live alongside their predator, the feral cat?

    Scientists excited by progress in bold project to see if native species can train themselves to survive alongside cats

    In the middle of the Australian outback’s arid deserts, many of the country’s distinctive small marsupials – the bilbies, bandicoots and quolls – have been missing for a century or more, wiped out by land clearing and the hunting prowess of feral cats. Felis catus – introduced by European invaders and settlers – was too fast and too agile for the native mammals that had not evolved with this voracious and adaptable new predator.

    While efforts to rid the landscape of cats have so far failed, a group of scientists have entered into a bold project to see if small marsupials can train themselves to survive alongside the cats that drove their species almost to extinction.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2025 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.