May 16, 2012
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Groups Demand Canada Support a Moratorium on Genetically Engineered Trees
Bonn, Germany, May 20, 2008 – Today at the site of the major meeting of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (the ninth Conference of the Parties or COP9) in Bonn Germany, Canadian civil society representatives released an open letter signed by 47 Canadian groups, to the Minister of the Environment, John Baird. The groups are demanding that Canada support the global moratorium on GE trees to be decided in negotiations May 19-30.
Due to the strong concerns of many countries, particularly in Africa, the UN meeting will accept or reject a new proposal for a moratorium on field testing and planting GE trees. The two-week long ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) is the major meeting of all governments who have signed the international environmental agreement.
“Any release of genetically engineered trees is a serious threat to Canada’s forests,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, on location at the UN meetings. “For the sake of Canada’s forests and the health of forests around the world, Canada needs to clearly state its support for a global moratorium,” she said.
In addition to conservation groups such as the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Nature Quebéc and Nature Saskatchewan, the open letter was signed by groups who would be directly affected by the contamination of forests from GE trees such as the National Aboriginal Forestry Association and the Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada. The complete list of signatories and the text of the letter can be viewed at http://www.cban.ca/Press
Greenpeace Canada’s Eric Darier said, “Canada should not stand in the way of African and other governments in establishing a moratorium on GE trees. GE trees endanger forests and Indigenous peoples across the world. The only way forward is a global moratorium.”
Contamination from GE trees would be irreversible. Although there is currently only one open-air test plot (GE poplar) in Canada, models created in 2004 by Duke University researchers show that pollen from trees in the southeast U.S. can travel for more than 1,200km into eastern Canada. The contamination of forests with GE tree pollen or seeds could devastate forest ecosystems and biodiversity.
Beginning today, delegates from the Canadian Government begin speaking at the UN negotiations over the potential moratorium.
For more information: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network coordinator@cban.ca 011 49 151 1227 2774; Eric Darier, Agriculture Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada, + 49 157 73 76 79 39: See Daily Blog at www.cban.ca/trees
