‘Plant trees and create wetlands to avoid water shortages’

FARMERS should plant trees and create wetlands to stop Britain running out of water, a food waste charity has said.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme – WRAP – highlighted in its annual report the stress our food chain puts on water supplies, and warned of shortages in the absence of action.

Food suppliers signing up to the charity’s waste reduction scheme have begun to farm more sustainably. The report says: “More than 80 food and drink businesses and 2,000 farmers are engaged, with farm visits undertaken, leading to a range of interventions.”

The report claims a quarter of a million hectares have already been successfully transformed, with silt traps, wetlands and tree planting contributing to the programme’s net zero target. “So far 750 million litres of water have been replenished back to nature,” it says.

East Anglia and Kent are most at threat from water shortages if action is not taken, the report warns.

“Climate change will increase pressures on farmers, with more unpredictable weather and the disruption faced from both water scarcity and flooding,” it adds. “The UN predicts a 40 per cent shortfall of the available global water supply by 2030. Security of supply in this context is a real commercial – and national – concern.”

Encouragingly, the report notes more than 80 food and drink businesses are now engaged on projects to reduce water use and prevent “water stress” – 45 of them stopped £300 million worth of food from being thrown away this year. Marcus Gover, WRAP’S chief, said: “We need to pick up the pace. We need more businesses committing to act on food waste and for public reporting of food waste to become the norm.”