Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Report: Reward farmers for not polluting our rivers
FARMERS are a worse polluter of Britain’s waterways than wastewater companies, a new report reveals.
And just 15 per cent of our rivers were deemed to be “in good ecological health” following the study by 40 experts.
They say farmers should be rewarded for not polluting rivers as an urgent priority in saving England’s fast-deteriorating waterways.
The new report warns that farmers are not offered sufficient incentives to prevent this pollution.
The industry is responsible for 40 per cent of the country’s river pollution, says the report.
The new report from the government’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the British Ecological Society has been published in an attempt to curb pollution.
As well as better incentives for farmers, the report also advises more stringent regulations on sewage and increased waterway connectivity to stop pollution and help clean up our rivers.
England’s rivers, as well as the lifeforms they support, are currently in a desperate state, with calls to improve conditions growing more and more urgent.
The River Trust’s annual State of Our Rivers report found that just 15 per cent of rivers across the country were now classed as being in good ecological health, whilst not one waterway was classed as being in good overall health.
The new Delivering Biodiversity report outlines what actions should be prioritised to save England’s rivers by 2030.
These actions include reducing pollution from agriculture, wastewater, and other sources; enhancing freshwater habitat connectivity; adopting a more comprehensive approach to monitoring and providing an update to aquatic biodiversity indicators.
Despite water companies being predominately blamed for polluting England’s rivers, the Chair of the Environment Agency, Alan Lovell, revealed at the National Farmers’ Union Conference last year that the agricultural sector is responsible for 40 per cent of England’s river pollution – even more than water companies at 36 per cent.
With 70 per cent of the country’s land farmed, one priority the new report suggests is to reduce the flow of agricultural pollution into our waterways.
To do this, the authors of the report suggest better-incentivising farmers to take up regenerative agriculture practices, such as those which reduce the use of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides as well as farming back from rivers, fencing off watercourses to keep livestock out and planting woodlands along rivers.
Rob Booth, Senior Policy Officer at the British Ecological Society, explained: “As our report recognises, land management actions to improve water quality are already financially rewarded in England through various schemes and offers, so the question is how to improve uptake. The report states that such actions should be ‘rewarded appropriately’ and given growing societal concern about cleaning up England’s rivers, such actions would surely resonate with the public.”
As well as incentives, experts emphasised that farmers need clear and independent advice routed in ecological evidence on delivering environmental sustainability.
The report also deemed better monitoring and regulation of wastewater treatment works, along with improvements to infrastructure as essential to reducing sewage overflows. The report states that making our rivers and floodplains more connected will also improve the functioning and resilience of these ecosystems.
Connectivity can be increased by removing barriers such as weirs – small barriers built across streams or rivers to control and raise water levels – and restoring smaller bodies of water such as ponds, canals and wetlands, which are often overlooked in monitoring and protection.
The report’s authors also list sustained investment for monitoring the state of biodiversity in our fresh waters and the threats it faces as essential.