You may be able to travel to New Zealand while the border is closed if we consider you have a critical purpose to travel.

New Zealand’s clean, green image hides a dirty truth. Polluted by intensive dairy  farming, its waterways are some of the most degraded in the world. Will the Ardern government clean it up or will the Maori step in?

It’s a toxic brew of dirty water and big business. And it’s jeopardising New Zealand’s ‘100% pure’ clean, green image.

New Zealand’s pristine landscapes and stunning vistas have made it a magnet for tourists and film directors. Its dairy exports have taken the world by storm.

But behind this success story lies a shocking reality. New Zealand has some of the most polluted rivers in the developed world.

Scientists blame the ‘white gold rush’ – the rapid expansion of the country’s hugely successful dairy industry, worth around $15 billion a year.

Correspondent Yaara Bou Melhem travels to the South Island of New Zealand to investigate an issue which is dividing communities.

She finds rivers contaminated with high levels of nitrogen nitrates, run-off from intensive farming practices.

In some…