GREENHOUSE industry leaders have slammed a decision by the Rudd Government to refuse a request to import bumblebees to pollinate greenhouse crops.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett announced the decision yesterday, saying imported bumblebees posed a "serious risk'' to te environment and native bee and bird populations.
"While I appreciate the potential benefits of improved pollination for the hydroponic industry, national environment legislation requires me to adopt a precautionary approach to any proposal to introduce a new species into Australia,'' Mr Garrett said.
"No matter how hard we try to contain them to greenhouses, the risk of their escape into the environment are too great.''
Bumblebees had escaped greenhouses and established in a number of countries, including Japan and Israel, and were listed as a potentially threatening species in Victoria, Mr Garrett said.
They upset pollination and damaged flowers when taking nectar, robbing native species of food, were resilient to high temperatures, and could help rapidly spread weeds, he said.
But Australian Hydroponic and Greenhouse Association president Graeme Smith slammed the move and will be demanding to see details of the decision-making process.
"It's very disappointing given the considerable time and money we've spent over 10 years to make sure our request was based on sound science,'' he told The Weekly Times.
"Bumblebee technology has been used successfully overseas for 30 years.
"This appears to be a political decision.''
Mr Smith said the decision meant the local industry would continue to lag behind overseas competitors.
He also played down the usefulness of local research efforts at finding home-grown alternatives to imported bumblebees.
Adelaide University researcher Dr Katya Hogendoorn has received Australian Research Council funding in 2004 and 2007 to study the pollination potential of a native bee species.
Dr Hogendoorn told The Weekly Times her work on greenhouse tomatoes had found a 10 per cent weight boost from using the blue-banded bee, which could also be kept in artificial nests inside greenhouses.
"No matter how hard we try to contain them to greenhouses, the risk of their escape into the environment are too great.''
Bumblebees had escaped greenhouses and established in a number of countries, including Japan and Israel, and were listed as a potentially threatening species in Victoria, Mr Garrett said.
They upset pollination and damaged flowers when taking nectar, robbing native species of food, were resilient to high temperatures, and could help rapidly spread weeds, he said.
But Australian Hydroponic and Greenhouse Association president Graeme Smith slammed the move and will be demanding to see details of the decision-making process.
"It's very disappointing given the considerable time and money we've spent over 10 years to make sure our request was based on sound science,'' he told The Weekly Times.
"Bumblebee technology has been used successfully overseas for 30 years.
"This appears to be a political decision.''
Mr Smith said the decision meant the local industry would continue to lag behind overseas competitors.
He also played down the usefulness of local research efforts at finding home-grown alternatives to imported bumblebees.
Adelaide University researcher Dr Katya Hogendoorn has received Australian Research Council funding in 2004 and 2007 to study the pollination potential of a native bee species.
Dr Hogendoorn told The Weekly Times her work on greenhouse tomatoes had found a 10 per cent weight boost from using the blue-banded bee, which could also be kept in artificial nests inside greenhouses.
"The only two issues outstanding are how to deal with a fungus that threatens the bee, and getting the greenhouse industry to make sure their facilities are escape-proof for the bees,'' she said.
But Mr Smith said he'd been hearing about the research for five years "and still we don't seem any closer to a result''.
"There's still a long way to go and I don't think we'll ever get there.
"You just can't replicate the effectiveness of the bumble bee.''
"There's still a long way to go and I don't think we'll ever get there.
"You just can't replicate the effectiveness of the bumble bee.''
