FEMALE FARMERS in North Wales are starting a campaign against chinese lanterns, which they argue are providing a hazard to wildlife and farm animals.
Members of the Women’s Food and Farming Union in North Wales displayed the finds of their lantern patrols at the Flint and Denbigh show, and are planning on campaigning for the celebratory items to be banned.
Karen Bellis, secretary for the North Wales branch of the Women’s Food and Farming Union, said the lanterns are blighting the region’s farming community.
“They look lovely when they go up, but they have a fire in them, and that fuel cell has caused crops and buildings to catch fire.
“Another big problem is the wire that is in them. It’s being eaten by animals and cut up into needle sized pieces during farming, which is harming wildlife. You can just imagine the danger this causes.”
Carys Roberts, who farms in the Conwy Valley and works with the WFU, has seen first hand the effects of the lanterns.
“It’s such a danger to livestock,” she said. “We want a ban, and that’s what we are aiming for; its not just farmers who are affected.
“We’ve started a register to get signatures against it, and we’ll be launching it next month after our meeting."
Members of the North Walse branch have had to begin lantern patrols to ensure crops are clear of the lanterns to avoid them being caught up in the silage process.
Ms Bellis said: “When making silage, we have to go out and keep an eye open for them in our area. I’ve got a big bag full of them collected by our members. We would like people to think abouit the consequences of them.”
The group also point towards the problem provided to coastguard services in North Wales, with the lanterns being mistaken for flares causing call-outs to increase by a factor of seven over the last year.
She added: “We’re not being killjoys, we just want people to think about where they go.”