Green MP Sue Kedgley today welcomed funding approval for work towards reducing pesticide use, saying the Green initiative would help protect consumers in New Zealand and our clean green image overseas.

The scoping of a national pesticide reduction strategy was one of the enviornmental initiatives of the Green Party Budget Package; the final part of the Green package to get the financial go-ahead from Cabinet.

Ms Kedgley said she would like a national strategy to set the goal of halving pesticide use within five years.

"At present more than 3,000 tonnes of pesticides are used in New Zealand each year, including many highly toxic pesticides which are used when there are less toxic alternatives available.

"It is extraordinary that we don't have already a strategy in place to cooordinate reducing pesticide use, and reducing the toxicity of the ones we do use. But at least we're on the way now."

"Heavy pesticide use is damaging to our health and our environment, and also to our clean green image which sells our food in overseas supermarkets.

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