ABSTRACT
In the past the chemical control of tsetse flies often gave rise to considerable and sometimes irreversible damage in the ecosystems concerned. The most dramatic side-effects were observed in situations where dieldrin and endosulfan were used at high dose rates. The methods developped over the last decade for non-residual applications of certain pyrethroids and endosulfan cause less environmental damage and in most situations recovery of affected populations of organisms can be observed within the same season.
Nevertheless, a continuing surveillance of possible environmental effects of pesticides in connection to tsetse control operations remains necessary. One may expect that the resilience of many ecosystems may decrease in future because of factors related to the steady increase of human pressure on the environment. Pesticide applications, whose side-effects appear to be of a reversible nature in relatively unspoiled habitats may cause irreversible damage in habitats, which, to some degree, have lost their recovering strength.
