Green Group Warns on GM Tree Development
11/11/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Green Group Warns on GM Tree Development
Source: Reuters News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 11, 1999
BRUSSELS- An international environmental group said on Tuesday a
growing number of genetically modified (GM) trees were being
cultivated without reliable safeguards and called for a global
moratorium on their commercial release.
The World Wide Fund for Nature said in a study that commercial GM
tree production could begin in the next two years, probably in Chile,
China and Indonesia, despite what it said were inadequate regulations
and insufficient research into the environmental impact of trees
modified by biotechnology.
``WWF is calling on governments worldwide to declare a global
moratorium on the commercial release of GM trees until enough
research has been conducted and proper safeguards have been put in
place,'' Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, head of WWF's Forests for Life
Program, said in a statement.
``It is far too early to judge whether biotechnology can make a safe
and effective contribution to the forest sector.''
WWF said there could be a risk of genetic pollution, the development
of ``superweeds'' and unwanted effects on non-target species from
trees engineered to be resistant to pests and agricultural chemicals.
The group said that in the last 11 years, there had been 116
confirmed GM tree trials in 17 countries using 24 different tree
species, of which three quarters were timber-producing. Most tests
are in North America. France leads the way in Europe.
The WWF report -- ``GM technology in the forest sector'' -- coincides
with growing public concern, particularly in Europe, about the safety
of GM foods.
Lawmakers and the biotechnology industry are seeking ways to make the
technology more acceptable.
WWF accused life science companies of pushing the technology in
regions where regulations governing trials were less strict than in
the developed world.
Trees can be genetically engineered to increase growth rates, modify
wood structure, alter reproductive cycles, improve tolerance to
herbicides and perhaps even store more of the gases that are
responsible for climate change, the report said.