More than 2,000 hectares of privately owned woodland is to be sprayed, mostly with the herbicide VisionMax.

The active ingredient in VisionMax is the controversial chemical glyphosate. 

According to various resources including Pesticide.org, "...glyphosate exposure damages or reduces the population of many animals, including beneficial insects, fish, birds, and earthworms. In some cases glyphosate is directly toxic; for example, concentrations as low as 10 parts per million can kill fish and 1/20 of typical application rates caused delayed development in earthworms. In other cases, (small mammals and birds, for example) glyphosate reduces populations by damaging the vegetation that provides food and shelter for the animals." 

According to various sources (see below), the use of glyphosate is said to have long term effects on the environment, such as reducing natural fertility of the soil. Issues such as this decrease the overall sustainability of farming and agriculture in the long run. 

Northern Pulp, the company that runs the Pictou County mill in Abercrombie Point, has applied to spray 794 hectares of forest in Halifax, Hants and Colchester counties. 

Northern Pulp’s application is expected to be approved by the end of the month! The spray (including 705 hectares of aerial application) is expected to be finished by the end of September. 

The Environment Department has already approved spraying to cover about 1,351 hectares of forested land, including three aerial and three ground sprays. The companies that have been approved are MacMullin Forestry Consulting of St. Andrew’s, Antigonish County, JD Irving Ltd., and Century Forestry Consultants of Pictou. Those sprays will take place in Antigonish, Guysborough, Colchester, Cumberland, Pictou and Richmond counties. 

Petition created with information from the following sources, there is lots more information available here and we strongly encourage you to do your own research and start conversations on your social media:

1. Spraying in Nova Scotia forests soon to begin - Recent article on the upcoming spraying in NS, Canada. 

2. StopTheSpray.com - A great resource, we are unsure of the last time it was updated but all information still seems to check out. 

3. Pesticide Action Network - North America

Let us know if you have any great resources to add to this list or if you feel something must be edited or added.  

Quick Facts - from StopTheSpray.com:

• Monsanto, who made Agent Orange and PCB's, also makes Vision and Vision MAX among other defoliants/herbicides/pesticides
• Our government did not do its own testing of VISION/VISION MAX, the PMRA gets its safety information from Monsanto
• Glyphosate and many other pesticides are banned in other countries and even as close as Quebec
• Denmark banned glyphosate because it was found in well water
• Spray areas that have blueberries are deemed unedible
• Pictou County Municipality voted unanimously against the spraying in our county but its request was ignored the Minister of Environment Mark Parent
• After Halifax, NS got their pesticide bylaw in place, a law was passed that no other municipality was allowed to pass a ban
• The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities may be looking into reversing this undemocratic law so that areas can once again ban pesticides
• Pesticides do not stay where they are sprayed, a test was done at 10ft in the air with a 3 mile wind and the spray drifted 21 miles, which is why it is our right NOT to be exposed against our will
• Pesticides poison more than 6 000 Canadians every year and almost half of them are children younger than six, the David Suzuki Foundation says after reviewing poison control records across the country