Dairy farming in New Zealand puts freshwater at risk

Farming is the biggest contributor to New Zealand's booming economy, but it is also the main cause of its freshwater pollution crisis, prompting an outcry from environmentalists and concerned citizens.

Last year, it was found that sheep faeces from surrounding farms had been seeping into an aquifer, which caused about 4,500 people to fall seriously ill.
AP/file photo

Last year, it was found that sheep faeces from surrounding farms had been seeping into an aquifer, which caused about 4,500 people to fall seriously ill.

New Zealand's national motto is “100 percent pure.”

But the reality is very different.

There's so much waste running into the rivers that two-thirds of the country's rivers are now too polluted to swim in, and three-quarters of native freshwater fish face extinction.

While urbanisation and deforestation are partly to blame, most people are pointing the finger at the backbone of New Zealand’s economy, dairy farming.

TRT World’s Kim Vinnel has more from Havelock North, New Zealand.

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