Amsterdam, Netherlands – 12 Greenpeace activists have scaled three barns at a controversial megafarm development in northeast Croatia, painting a 500m2 slogan reading ‘Stop This Shit’ onto the roofs in protest at the threat that animal waste from the facility poses to a nearby biosphere reserve.

Dániel Nyitray, Campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: “Industrial meat giants like MHP are expanding aggressively all over the world, fattening the pockets of billionaires, while poisoning rivers and drinking water with toxic animal waste. Communities everywhere are fed up – and these activists have taken action today to send a clear message: stop this shit! We deserve clean air, drinkable water, and a food system that nourishes people, not corporate greed.”

As the protest took place, activists from Zelena akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia) and Prijatelji životinja (Animal Friends Croatia) dressed in business suits installed a 3.5m high inflatable chicken outside the gates of the facility. One activist sat on a makeshift toilet atop the gates, representing both corporate indifference to local concerns and the enormous amount of animal waste the megafarm will produce.

The protest targeted a project on the Croatian border with Hungary by poultry giant MHP, Europe’s largest chicken producer, which is expected to produce 1.8 million chickens a year once operational.  The facility is expected to begin operations imminently. Local groups are concerned that the 1 million litres of waste the plant will produce annually threatens to pollute local soil, air and waterways, amongst other detrimental environmental impacts. 

Dora Sivka, President at Zelena akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia), said: “The grassroots movement against megafarms and slaughterhouses in Croatia, which brings together 10 local initiatives and is supported by 160 European NGOs, has already voiced a clear ‘No’ to such projects through multiple protests. What makes it even more tragic is that the first of 24 planned projects begins operations right next to the Amazon of Europe, one of Europe’s most important protected wetlands!” 

The development has generated strong local opposition due to its construction just a few hundred metres from the Veliki Pažut reserve, part of the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, a 930,000 hectare UNESCO protected wetland known as the ‘Amazon of Europe’ due to its incredible biodiversity and vast river corridors.[1] The reserve, which spans five countries, is home to a range of important species including the highest breeding density of white-tailed eagles in Europe and is a crucial habitat for over 250,000 waterbirds.[2]

Luka Oman, President at Prijatelji životinja (Animal Friends Croatia), said: “Every megafarm is built on immense animal suffering that extends to the environment and to the people. Behind us, chickens bred to grow unnaturally fast are packed into sheds so tightly that they don’t have room to spread their wings. These intensive conditions create ideal circumstances for the spread of infectious diseases, threatening wild birds in the ornithological reserve just 320m away. The responsible authorities must respect the will of citizens and stop the horror of megafarm expansion across Croatia.”

The project is part of a significant effort by the poultry industry to expand within Croatia. In April, MHP withdrew from a multi-site mega project near the city of Sisak, Moslavina county, following months of intense public protests, including in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. The project would have become one of Europe’s largest megafarms, producing 100 million chickens a year and quadrupling the country’s annual chicken production. Another investor, Premium Chicken Company (PCC), has expressed its intention to proceed with all its planned projects.

The expansion within Croatia reflects a dramatic rise in global chicken production as consumption soars worldwide.[3] Chicken production worldwide has risen by almost 60% since 2006 to over 76 billion animals a year, according to the Financial Times. MHP, owned by Ukrainian billionaire Yuriy Kosiuk, slaughters over half a billion chickens alone each year.[4]

ENDS

Photos and video: Photo and Video from the action are available to download via the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

[1] EcoMission (2022), Studija o utjecaju na okoliš farme za tov pilića – Farma Veliki Pažut, Općina Legrad, Koprivničko-križevačka županija 

[2] Amazon of Europe (2026), The Biosphere Reserve: General Information

[3] Financial Times, How chicken conquered the world, 26 Aug 2026

[4] Financial Times, The man who built Europe’s chicken factory, 1 Sep 2026

Contacts:

Joe Evans, Agriculture Global Comms Lead at Greenpeace UK,  +44 7890 595387, [email protected]

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected].