They have until 2030 to cut manure-containing manures used as fertilizer.
The court in The Hague said the government had clearly failed to comply with European regulations to preserve vulnerable nature reserves and cut excessive emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia, which hurt biodiversity and damage the quality of water, reports Reuters news agency.
It ordered the government to meet its target of reducing the emissions to legally allowed levels in 50 per cent of all affected nature reserves by 2030 and ruled that it should be fined 10 million euros ($15 million Cdn) if the goal was not met.
The lawsuit was brought by Greenpeace.
