Tech | September 21, 2010 | 14 comments

Genetically engineered trees set to kill forest biodiversity

source: http://climatevoices.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/september-21st-international-day-against-tree-...

JanforGore
Southern U.S. States Targeted for Genetically Engineered Tree Plantations

United States–Today is the International Day Against Tree Monocultures [1]. Across the globe, timber plantations are wreaking havoc on forests and forest dependent communities. Now, to further exacerbate this damage, genetically engineered trees (or GE trees) pose a new and unprecedented threat.

The Dogwood Alliance’s Executive Director, Danna Smith said, “The USDA recently approved a request by GE tree company ArborGen, headquartered in South Carolina, to plant over a quarter of a million genetically engineered eucalyptus trees across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and South Carolina, —many of the same regions still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill. This would be another disaster for the region.”

Like kudzu, eucalyptus trees are wildly invasive, and spread into native ecosystems, displacing wildlife. Additionally, the oil in these eucalyptus trees is extremely flammable. California spends millions each year to eradicate invasive eucalyptus because of the threat of wildfires. In 2009 over 200 people were killed in Australia in a firestorm fuelled by eucalyptus. It was the worst fire in the country’s history.

On July 1, 2010 Global Justice Ecology Project, Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, and the International Center for Technology Assessment filed a lawsuit to stop ArborGen’s GE eucalyptus due to their potential impacts [2].

“It’s time for people to understand that GE trees must be banned and that plantations are not forests,” remarked Orin Langelle, Global Justice Ecology Project Co-Director/Strategist.

NOTES to Editors: [1] In 2004, September 21st was declared the International Day Against Tree Monocultures by organizations throughout the world. On this day, people in every continent carry out actions to generate awareness about the impacts of large scale tree monocultures on communities and their environments. For more info, see www.wrm.org.uy

[2] For background on the lawsuit click here.

Click here to sign the petition to stop genetically engineered trees!
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  2. tags:
    Environment,  Biodiversity,  Toxic,  Drought,  9 more
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14 comments // Genetically engineered trees set to kill forest biodiversity // Video

  • UtopianSky
    • -1
      UtopianSky  

    • I don't see what's wrong with this- I just see a lot of fear about what some people believe might be wrong with this, and that kind of fear stops technological advancement.

      Imagine genetically engineered crops that can grow anywhere- including arid lands in Africa. Crops that are low maintenance, high yield, long shelf life, and have a high nutrition value.

      Imagine trees that grow tall and thick in just one year- and after they are chopped down, the stump grows a whole new tree annually.

      Imagine every typical suburban home having one small bedroom-sized "greenhouse" hydroponic garden, that can continuously grow enough food to feed a family of four.

      Science is a good thing- it is not something to be afraid of UNLESS you can find something SPECIFIC about this SPECIFIC implementation.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • UtopianSky:

      http://about.sc

      Actually, it is scientists who are warning us of the dangers of this because we already know what GMO crops have done regarding transgenic contamination and tests are showing the health effects. To say that all science is good simply because it is science is to be biased and naive. Irresponsible science is not good for the sustainability of the planet and biodiversity. And had you read about this more fully you would see this is clearly for profit and not to benefit the world or its people. Growing Ge trees with less lignin in them leaves them vulnerable to diseases and threatens other species and water supplies. How is that progress? This is simply a profit scheme that will not only threaten humans and other species but the very health of our forests and all who live in them. Can you honestly state that a tree that is a pesticide in its every cell that does not bear fruit, nuts, pollen, etc. is a good thing? How is that possible if it is essentially dead?

      Monocultures are what this would bring just as is being done regarding GMO crops. And as Dr. Suzuki, a geneticist who knows his work stated in the video I posted here the science on this is not adequate. You also have a skewed vision of GMO crops. They have already been proven to have either minimally higher or no higher yields than conventional crops and they have required more pesticides due to superweeds becoming resistant to the BT in them and diminish soil quality. There is also absolutely no proof they are of higher nutritional value. Matter of fact that is one reason why labelling is being thwarted according to the FDA... because there is no difference between them.

      And I imagine sustainable agriculture where pesticides are not toxifying this world and where people are not pushed into poverty because they have to mortgage their very lives to afford patented terminator seeds and toxic pesticides just to make a corporation rich. That certainly doesn't feed them. You misrepresent many when you assume that because people are against this that they think all science is bad. Any good scientist knows irresponsible and dangerous science when they see it and calls it out. This also isn't about being for it because God didn't create it and you do not believe in God. This isn't about religion to me, this is about morality and preserving the natural balance of this planet and the processes that sustain life. That "is" what real science is all about.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://current.com/technology/92199752_are-ge-eucalyptus-trees-killing-the-ecosy...

      This program is about an unlikely alliance between a GP, a group of oyster farmers and a Sydney scientist.

      They banded together to investigate mysterious water quality issues in one of the most beautiful areas of Tasmania.

      Faced with what they saw as government indifference, local doctor Alison Bleaney and marine ecologist Dr. Marcus Scammell spent tens of thousands of their own money.

      What they eventually found was the very opposite of what they expected.
      ___
      The above is the description from Part 1 of the report Something In The Water. What these good people discovered through their research is something we cannot ignore. There is a strong chance that the GE eucalyptus monoculture forests planted here are contaminating the water, the animals, the oyster farms, and bringing about cancers in the human population using this water.

      After watching this report one cannot help but feel such a sense of urgency regarding the USDA's plan to allow the planting of 260,000 of these eucalyptus trees in the Southern US.

      Please watch both parts of this very important story and speak out for truth regarding the planting of these trees in the U.S. This is an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • reactionforce
  • Username6555
  • SpencerTreeGarden
    • +2
      SpencerTreeGarden  

    • First off eucalyptus is poisonous to most animals except for the koala. We have no native koalas in the U.S. Secondly if companies can play with all these genetics of plants and animals how come there are still restrictions on stem cells. At least with stem cells we can help people with major health problems rather then help people who have a lack of paper. Kind of makes no sense that people argued against the collection of stem cell samples from aborted fetuses when those fetuses just get thrown away in a biological hazard garbage can anyways. The argument was that scientist were playing "god" but didn't god also create plants and animals as well.

    • 1 year ago
  • anniekaye
  • clovernuts
    • 0
      clovernuts  

    • Oh my god! The trees.....They are on fire.......OH no they are trying to kill us.....wait wait.....nightmare......i know I shouldn't of fell asleep watching WIzard of Oz.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • Just when you think , things can't get more horrific , they f**k'in do ! How can they be killed , and what is the best way to dispose of the toxic "trees" ?

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • KSirys
    • 0
      KSirys  
    • JanforGore:

      why stop it?? the government's allowing it... I don't understand why we must continue to fight when the government is looking out for Number 1.... themselves..

      I say let it happen and little by little the country will kill itself... all because the FDA, EPA and every other government agency is looking out for only one group... the government.. let them run a country with mutants... that's what it seems to want anyway..

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • KSirys:

      No, they cannot win. And my son and his children are more important than they are as is the biodiversity of this planet that sustains us all. They want us to give up. I say ___________them.

    • 1 year ago
  • KSirys
    • +3
      KSirys  
    • JanforGore:

      You fight the good fight Jan... I hope you know the people before you, MLK, JKF, Che and others died wanting the same thing... I know you're still young and have lots of energy, so that's not a problem... but time is not in our hands...

      I'll be there to support people like you and my cause as well... but this fight is not one that one person can win... not even a group, unless you're in the government..

      Oh, i was just being sarcastic with my last comment... forgot to put it there...

    • 1 year ago
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