This summer, staff and members of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and Radnorshire Wildlife Trust are attending the AGMs of supermarkets Tesco, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer.

It is the supermarket's supply chains that must bear considerable responsibility for much of the phosphate pollution that is killing the River Wye. The phosphate leaches from livestock manure, predominantly from industrial chicken units, that is spread on fields in the catchment when it is cleared from the sheds. The soils are already at capacity for carrying phosphate so it enters the water system and makes its way into our rivers. The result is green algal blooms which smother rivers, slime-covered riverbed gravels and a resulting, massive, decline in wildlife. This month, The Rivers Wye and Lugg were reclassified by Natural England as ‘unfavourable – declining’ with diminishing populations of Atlantic Salmon, white-clawed crayfish and aquatic plants.

So, we wanted to ask the supermarkets, who buy the produce from the companies responsible for this issue, what their plans are for tackling this problem. These are big supermarkets with big buying power and we feel they are well placed to play a role in finding solutions to the problem. We understand that they are not the only stakeholder and all parties need to work together so we are asking them to join us at a roundtable meeting in July and be a part of the solution.

Tesco held their AGM on Friday 1th June and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust member, Richard Tyler, attended and put the following to Tesco CEO Ken Murphy:

“Thank you.  My name is Richard Tyler and I speak both as customer and shareholder of Tesco but also as a member of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust.

My question relates to what I am sure is of concern to many people at this AGM today – the fact that in a few short years, the success story of cleaning up our rivers in the UK has been totally reversed and now all of them are suffering from pollution, in some cases extremely severely.  This is particularly true of our local River Wye and indeed there has been widespread publicity about its poor condition.

I live near both the Wye and its tributary, the Lugg. As a volunteer, I undertake regular bird surveys on both rivers and monitor curlews on the Lugg.  Sadly, they have failed again this year.  In the three years I have been undertaking this work, I have yet to see the rivers run clean.  They have always been clogged with algal blooms and silt.  Now Natural England have acknowledged that both are officially declining in terms of their wildlife.

From published science, we know that there is way too much of both phosphate and nitrogen coming into the catchment.  Whilst some is from sewage, most is from agriculture.  And a large proportion of this is from chicken manure – manure created by chickens produced on contract to Tesco suppliers, Avara Foods.

Avara is part of Cargill, an international company convicted of knowingly polluting the Illinois River in the US. The pollution of the Wye has increased massively since Tesco signed new contracts with Avara in 2013.

I understand and appreciate that Tesco have a strong commitment to sustainability and environmental protection with excellent policies published in support of this. For instance, the website says: “We've built sustainability into our purpose, strategy and business plans. We know that our business depends on the world around us. As the UK's largest retailer, we know we can make a big difference.”

I am now asking Tesco to make that big difference.  My question is: What steps are Tesco’s managers taking to insist that Avara and the suppliers they support, change their practices to ensure this devastating pollution stops. 

In addition, I ask could a meeting be arranged with the CEOs of the Hereford and Radnorshire Wildlife Trusts to discuss this urgent matter further.

Thank you for the opportunity to ask this question.”

 The response from the Tesco boss was that they are working with WWF and WRAP to "accelerate progress" and that their approach involved “sustained pressure,” “financial support” and “expertise”. However, Mr Murphy gave no detail of what actions were practically being taken, any plans, objectives or targets. He also said that it would be ”inappropriate” to meet with Wildlife Trust CEOs to discuss the issue.

Richard Tyler commented:

“Tesco CEO Ken Murphy failed to commit the company to being a part of the solution to the pollution of the River Wye. Despite the adverse publicity they receive and the powerful market position they hold, they do not seem to want to get involved in creating solutions. We still hope they will join the Wildlife Trust's Roundtable on the Wye on July 17th.”

Representatives from Herefordshire and Radnorshire Wildlife Trusts will be at the AGMs of Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer next month to ask them the same questions – we hope for a more positive response from them.

All three supermarkets have now been formally invited to a roundtable being held on 17^th July, chaired by The Wildlife Trusts CEO Craig Bennet. Tesco have now accepted this invitation.