The Soil & Health Association is welcoming last week’s “Knowing what’s out there” report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. The report criticises New Zealand’s lack of monitoring and regulation of environmental harm from chemicals.
“It’s encouraging to see the Green Party reinforce their commitment to organic agriculture from their position in government,” says Jenny Lux, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association, New Zealand’s largest organic membership organisation. “We’d like to see all political parties exploring the opportunities regenerative organic agriculture offers in terms of environmental protection, healthy food,…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 30 October 2019 The Soil and Health Association and Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility claim that environmental chemicals and heavy metals have been left outside the scope of the freshwater policy process. The claim is made in a hard-hitting paper in response to the Ministry for the Environment Action for healthy waterways…
The two most crucial moves we can make to improve New Zealand’s sadly degraded waterways are to stop dairy expansion, and to transition towards truly sustainable farming, according to the Soil & Health Association. Organic farmers are well ahead of the game in sustainable production and provide a model for a positive, healthy future for…
A shift towards organic farming practices and diversification is needed to protect and enhance our waterways and our economy, says the Soil & Health Association. The recently released report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, shows that water quality is deteriorating, particularly in areas where there is expansion or intensification of dairy…
Soil & Health – Organic NZ supports Pesticide Action Network’s call for an immediate reassessment of chlorpryifos, a dangerous aerially sprayed pesticide that is polluting New Zealand waterways. A recently published scientific study from the University of Otago found traces of pesticides in waterways on New Zealand farms, including organic farms, believed to have been…
Hamilton Council’s announcement yesterday to become fluoride free has attracted praise from Soil & Health – Organic NZ. “Hamilton joins the 30 other regional councils in New Zealand out of a total of 75 that do not fluoridate,” says Debbie Swanwick, Spokesperson, Soil & Health – Organic NZ. Eighty-eight percent of the 1567 submissions received…
Detectable levels of the invisible and odourless, carcinogenic and neurotoxic methyl bromide gas have been found at Picton’s wharves during log fumigation activities. Monitoring devices at Waitohi Wharf next to the interisland ferry terminal, and at Picton Wharf at the Picton marina recorded methyl bromide gas during venting of fumigated log stacks in nearby Shakespeare…