21 October 2015

Report an indictment of Government’s environmental record

A landmark report on the state of the country’s environment slams our level of greenhouse emissions, our record on the conservation of native plants and animals, and the worsening quality of our rivers, says Labour’s Environment spokesperson Megan Woods.

“It’s disturbing to read in the Environment Aotearoa report that 66 per cent of river sites that have been monitored were not safe to swim in and the amount of nitrogen that has leached into our soils has increased by 29 per cent.

“This nitrogen is finding its way straight into our rivers and levels in our waterways have increased by 12 per cent.

“Water quality statistics alone should embarrass the Government into immediate action on the environment. We need measures to slow pollution of our water by intensive dairy farming.

“However that is not the end of what is a gloomy prognosis for our indigenous animals and fish, with the finding that eight of our 30 native marine mammals are threatened with extinction.

“The report also says 90 per cent of our seabirds are at the risk of being wiped out.

“It's time for the Government to stop talking and start acting when it comes to the environment,” says Megan Woods.

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