What's next for our Stop Killing our Rivers campaign!
We’re overjoyed to report that more 30,000 people have signed our petition calling on UK Governments to Stop Killing our Rivers
Just ahead of World Rivers Day on 22nd September, we were delighted to be joined in Hereford by Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, Dr Ellie Chowns, a champion for the environment and nature friendly farming, who agreed to take our petition to parliament. The petition calls for a ban on new intensive chicken units, support for farmers to exit the industry and for action to reduce chicken consumption to more sustainable levels.
On the banks of the River Wye, which runs through the city, Ellie expressed her support for our campaign and agreed to take our petition to parliament, telling us
"Protecting our rivers is an issue that’s really close to my heart. The River Wye, which runs through my constituency, is seriously affected by pollution, mainly coming from agricultural run-off, with the industrial poultry industry a key factor.
"I’m really happy to accept this petition and want to say thank you to the Soil Association for all the work they’ve been doing campaigning on this. I’m going to keep on supporting your work and that of everybody else who is helping our UK farmers to grow healthy, sustainable food that protects good jobs and nature”. Ellie’s support for our campaign made the BBC news.
We can demonstrate clear public support for action
Launched in March, with a TV exclusive on ITV’s 10 o’clock news, the Stop Killing our Rivers campaign has helped raise awareness of the risk to rivers across the UK if the intensive chicken industry continues to expand. With your support, we can now demonstrate to the new UK government and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, that there is clear public support for an end to this environmentally destructive industry.
River health is forefront in the minds of the new Labour government and governments in Wales and the other devolved nations. “Cleaning up Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas” is top of a list of five priorities from Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed. While his current focus is on pollution caused by water companies, we welcome his recognition in a speech made earlier this month that “we need a catchment level approach to water pollution to include agriculture” and that “we need to reform the entire water system to address these complex problems”.
We look forward to proposals to address the impact of intensive agriculture, including poultry farming, in the coming months and to Defra’s response to a parliamentary question submitted by Dr Ellie Chowns MP asking the Secretary of State to make an assessment of our campaign asks.
We couldn’t have done this without the support of river heroes
Our campaign wouldn’t have been possible without local heroes from across the Wye region, some of whom feature in our campaign film, joined us in TV coverage and supported our campaign from its very beginnings. We are supporting the ongoing work of several of them, through our support for a manifesto for the Wye, calling on the Governments of the UK and Wales to establish a single, cross-border approach to tackling the pollution crisis across the Wye catchment.
With our campaign delivered to the UK government and welcome commitments to address river pollution at all its sources, we will continue, with your help and support, to call on UK governments to Stop Killing Our Rivers.
