Fonterra has launched a \u201cplan\u201d to clean up New Zealand\u2019s waterways but Greenpeace says the dairy giant has failed to address the cow in the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealanders, and our rivers, deserve more than empty headlines from Fonterra\u201d says Greenpeace\u2019s agriculture campaigner Gen Toop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe still un-tackled problem with New Zealand\u2019s rivers is intensification.\u00a0 Farms are overstocked with too many cows and that causes nitrate to leach down through the soil and into our waterways.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and several other scientific institutions have repeatedly drawn a clear link between intensive dairying and water pollution.<\/p>\n
\u201cNitrate pollution from too many cows cannot be fixed with fences and planting. The only way to have clean rivers and safe drinking water is to have fewer cows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil Fonterra can commit to reducing the national dairy herd, our rivers will continue to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fonterra was part of the \u201cswimmable rivers\u201d pledge made by farming leadership just before the September election which was widely criticised for its failure to address cow numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFonterra is not going to win back public opinion, or help its farmers, by issuing empty promises and spending megabucks on flashy ad campaigns trying to convince us all that everything is fine with the dirty intensive dairying model.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike Fonterra, Greenpeace has been championing regenerative farming, a way of farming, with fewer cows and more diversity, which looks after New Zealand\u2019s rivers.<\/p>\n
Following the launch of a short Greenpeace film called \u201cThe Regenerators\u201d featuring some of NZ\u2019s leading regenerative farmers, the United Nation\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organisation approached the environmental group wanting to showcase the farmers.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has just published a report based on the short film, and Greenpeace\u2019s video has now been viewed nearly 100,000 times.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealander\u2019s will quickly get sick of these empty promises from Fonterra and farming leadership while our rivers continue to crash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time Fonterra and farming leadership started actually doing their job and leading farmers in the transition towards regenerative farming.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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