Brussels authorities accused of negligence as Asian hornets spread

Specialists and residents fighting against the invasive Asian hornet species in Brussels have came together to criticise a lack of action by local authorities, saying they should have been better prepared for this expected problem.

Groups of residents have been mobilising on their own to track hornets, trap queens and destroy nests to make up for the failure of the public authorities, RTBF reports.

Louis Monéger is a member of Groupe F, a collective fighting the proliferation of hornets in Brussels, and said the density of hornets’ nests was worrying.

“Within a radius of 500 metres we had five that were active and that we neutralised,” Monéger said, noting that with virtually no predators and a perfect environment in terms of habitat and food, the Asian hornet has easily made the capital its home.

“It's typically an insect that feels at home in the city and makes its nests there, and if we do nothing, it proliferates,” he said.

“On average, a nest consumes 11kg of insects. A large proportion of these are bees, around 40%, but 60% are other insects. That's less food for the birds and, of course, the whole food chain comes under attack.”

Specialists estimate that there are almost 30 nests per square kilometre in the capital today, posing risks not only to public health but also to biodiversity.

“It is impossible to prevent the invasion of this species, which has been making its way up Europe since the early 2000s and appeared in Brussels in 2018, but measures could have been taken to limit its impact,” said Monéger.

“There were things that could have been done that would have at least slowed down the progression and ensured that we were ready when it arrived. But that wasn't the case. Clearly the public authorities were not up to the job.”

Oriane Rollin, director of CARI, the Beekeeping Research and Information Centre, also condemned the passivity of the Brussels authorities.

“There has been no awareness to help put in place good hornet management practices,” Rollin said.

“In other words, we find ourselves in denial: 'The hornet is not a problem, the hornet is purely a beekeeping problem.' These are the answers we've heard. And in the end, beekeepers had to fend for themselves.

“Was it because there was a refusal to face things head-on and say that the problem had to be tackled head-on because it would require human and financial resources?” he asked. “Was it a political decision? I wouldn't know, but in any case, Brussels has clearly lost ground compared to the other two regions.”

The Brussels Environment regional authority denied claims of negligence.

“On the basis of French data, all these trapping and tracking techniques have a derisory effect compared with the population dynamics of the hornet, so for us, it wasn't considered a relevant or priority choice, given our meagre resources in terms of managing invasive alien species in general,” said Julien Ruelle, head of the nature development department at Brussels Environment.

“In 2018-2019, the course of action inspired by our French colleagues was essentially risk management, and not an approach that is linked to the one currently being implemented by voluntary citizens groups.”

Brussels Environment said that it was nonetheless closely observing the work of these groups on the ground.

“We want to see the long-term results and whether these results are also confirmed in scientific publications or even confirmed over time,” Ruelle said, while adding that Brussels Environment will never have the resources to carry out this massive amount of work.

“It's a policy that can't reasonably be handled by the public authorities. It requires an investment in time and human resources that is completely unrealistic for an effect on the ground that, for the moment, remains relatively modest.

"What's more, we need to look at this in the long term, or even the very long term. And for the time being, the volunteer approach can work, but we need to look together, with volunteers and citizens, at how we can make this type of action sustainable within a clear legal framework."

In Brussels, the draft ordinance on exotic invasive species, which implements a European regulation, has still not been adopted by the regional parliament as it has been in Wallonia and Flanders.