Meeting ecological restoration targets in European waters: a challenge for animal agriculture.

Abstract

AbstractThe EU Water Framework Directive requires the restoration of water bodies to good ecological status within a prescribed timetable. It applies in all member states, is mandatory, and requires classification of water quality as a function of the extent of ecological degradation from reference (unimpacted) conditions. Nutrient enrichment of water bodies is the single greatest pollution problem impacting on European waters, and diffuse nutrient export from agriculture is a primary source of this problem in the most intensively farmed regions of Europe. Here, the scale of the problem is illustrated with reference to the specific conditions in the UK, set within a wider European context. By way of example, the scale of nutrient enrichment in the waters of England and Wales is illustrated, and options for reduction of diffuse nutrient loading to these waters are analysed. Key trends identified in this analysis indicate the importance of animal agriculture as a contributor to the total diffuse agricultural nutrient loading on English and Welsh waters, and the overwhelming need to bring these sources under control if conditions suitable for sustaining 'Good Ecological Status' in these waters are to be generated. The analysis also highlights the likely impact of broad regional-scale scenarios on nutrient export rates across England and Wales. Key conclusions reached include the need to take some sensitive lands out of production, introduce ceilings on fertilizer use and stocking densities, and tight controls on agricultural practice in higher risk areas where intensive and inappropriate agriculture is combined with a low intrinsic nutrient-retention capacity in the landscape.