WWF Exposes GM Tree Threat to World's Forests
11/9/99
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Title: WWF Exposes GM Tree Threat to World's Forests
Source: WWF Press Release
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 9, 1999
A new report launched today in London by WWF, the conservation
organization, reveals that a rapidly increasing number of genetically
modified (GM) trees are being planted without proper controls around
the world. This poses a serious threat to the global environment.
The WWF report, called "GM Technology in the Forest Sector", warns
that commercial GM tree production could begin within the next 2
years, probably in Chile, China, and Indonesia, funded principally by
private capital from industrialised nations. This might happen
despite inadequate regulations and inadequate research into the
environmental impact of GM trees.
WWF's study, the first to look at the wider environmental and social
impacts of GM trees, concludes that the risk of genetic pollution is
high. Other threats to the environment include possible new super-
weeds. There could also be unintended impacts on non-target species
when GM trees are engineered for pest resistance and herbicide
tolerance.
"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, " said Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Head of WWF's Forests for Life
Programme. "It is far too early to judge whether biotechnology can
make a safe and effective contribution to the forest sector."
Apart from such a moratorium, WWF calls for strengthened regulations
for field tests, which examine the long term environmental impacts of
GM tree species, and a watertight and robust Biosafety Protocol
within the Convention on Biodiversity that serves as the foremost
international agreement on GMOs. WWF also demands the start of a
comprehensive programme of research on which credible decisions can
be based, and the launch of an open public debate on the future of GM
technology.
Since 1988, there have been 116 confirmed GM tree trials in 17
countries using 24 tree species - 75 per cent of which are timber-
producing species. The majority (61%) of all GM tree trials are
carried out in the USA and Canada while France has the greatest
number of GM tree trials in Europe. Recently, however, there has been
a dramatic increase in both the number of GM tree trials worldwide
and the tree species tested.
Current regulations impose tighter restrictions in the industrialised
countries where GM tree trials are usually controlled by research
institutions and by governments. But, in Latin America, Africa and
South East Asia, where there is often little or no regulation, GM
tree trials are being driven by the private sector, and notably those
multi-nationals that wish to invest in genetically modified organisms
(GMO) but are restricted by regulations in developed countries.