Gardens are an important part of both rural and urban life across Europe. Gardens provide a range of benefits; they help alleviate flooding, provide habitat for wildlife and have human health benefits both psychologically and physically.
Home and garden products (pesticides) are currently used by gardeners to help maintain these spaces and their functions. However, home and garden product usage in Europe is coming under increased scrutiny and there are various groups and organisations that are pushing for tighter restrictions on the use of home and garden products in the garden market – with little scientific evidence of any negative impacts on health and the environment or understanding of the market as a whole.
This report, prepared for the ECPA GAPEG members aims to demonstrate the value of home and garden products in the garden market and compares there usage to potential alternative control options.
It does this through three phases, this report;
- Compiled what is known about the European. home and garden product market,
- Conducted a literature review of the value of gardens to society,
- Investigated the value of home and garden products to European gardens.