By Richard Torné
The authorities must act immediately to stop the extraction of groundwater in the Río Aguas, the International Rights of Nature Tribunal in Germany has ruled.
The non-binding ruling issued last week in Bonn by a panel of nine judges from eight countries concluded that water-intensive olive farming “must cease” in Almería “to enable the ecosystems to recover”.
The sentence comes after environmental activists lodged a complaint to the tribunal over the exploitation of the Sorbas river from intensive olive farming. It is the culmination of a three-year battle to force the regional government to halt illegal water extraction, which they claim is depleting ancient aquifers.
