What happens when biodiversity conservation and food systems collide? As the top meat exporter in the European Union, the Netherlands has become a case study in the ecological limits of industrial farming. When courts forced action to protect fragile ecosystems, it set off mass farmer protests, political upheaval, and a tug-of-war between regulation, technology and entrenched interests. Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo traces how nitrogen pollution from industrial livestock pushed Dutch ecosystems to the brink and sparked one of Europe’s most disruptive environmental policy battles. From courtroom rulings to grassroots revolt, we explore the science, power struggles and economic pressures behind the crisis — and what it predicts about the coming battles over our food systems.
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