Key facts
- Tim and Geli Harris have won three landmark legal victories to protect Catfield Fen.
- The couple has spent 15 years and £1.5 million of their own money on legal action.
- Natural England was found to have failed in its duty to protect the fen from nitrate and phosphate pollution.
- Catfield Fen is an internationally important wetland home to 2,500 species.
Tim and Geli Harris, who farm 460 acres in Norfolk, have achieved a third High Court victory against environmental regulators for failing to protect Catfield Fen. The couple has spent 15 years and £1.5 million of their own money to hold government agencies accountable for pollution affecting the internationally important wetland. Lady Justice Lieven ruled that Natural England failed in its statutory duty to protect the fen from nitrates and phosphates washing from arable fields. The judge criticized the agency's inaction since the Harrises first reported the issue in 2021, stating the cause was obvious and required intervention. The Harrises previously won cases in 2016 and 2022 concerning groundwater abstraction and water pollution impacting the fen.