WHEN fertiliser and livestock sewage wash off the land, nutrients build up in
lakes or coastal waters and toxic algae spread. According to a group of
ecologists at the University of Minnesota, this process of eutrophication is set
to double, if not treble, in the next 50 years, much to the detriment of the
world’s watery ecosystems
(New Scientist, 21 April, p 11). I asked
Michael Meacher, the environment minister, what is being done to combat these
effects.
Meacher replied that soil and soil management practices have an important
part to play in combating aquatic eutrophication. However, there is…
