Courts asked to shut 130 farms for breaching nitrogen limits

Around 130 farmers risk being forced to give up their businesses after environmental group Mobilisation for the Environment (MOB) petitioned regional courts to tear up their nature permits, according to an investigation by RTL.

The organisation has started legal action in 10 provinces since 2023, asking judges to withdraw the permits of farms that exceed the limits for nitrogen depositions near Natura 2000 conservation areas.

Provincial governments have so far rejected applications from MOB, arguing that the cabinet in The Hague is working on a voluntary buyout scheme and other measures to reduce cattle numbers and nitrogen pollution.

Farmers must reduce ammonia emissions by 42% to 46% by 2035, compared to 2019 levels, under the latest package announced by agriculture minister Jaimi van Essen in June. The measures still have to be put before parliament.

The failure of successive cabinets to come up with a definitive plan since the Council of State ruled the system for issuing nature permits illegal in 2019 has prompted MOB to take the provinces to court.

Concentration in south

The majority of requests were made in the southern provinces of Noord-Brabant, Limburg, Gelderland and Overijssel, where pig, poultry and cattle farming is concentrated.

Noord-Brabant decided to withdraw its permits in July after a deadline of a year to settle the issue with MOB expired.

Van Essen said earlier this month that court orders to shut down farms were “exactly what we’re trying to prevent” with the government’s package of measures, which include a 5% to 10% across the board cut to livestock numbers as a last resort.

But Chris Backes, professor of environmental law at Utrecht University, questioned whether the plans went far enough.

“Measures by the national government are only part of the solution,” he told RTL. “For some nature areas they are sufficient, according to research by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

“But in most cases the provinces will have to implement additional measures.”