Genetically Engineered Trees - no thanks!

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity is calling for comments and views on the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) trees on forests and natural ecosystems, indigenous peoples, peasants, local communities and small-scale farmers, woodlot owners, women or children. Current research on 'Frankentrees' includes genetic engineering to produce trees with reduced lignin and higher cellulose content for paper production. Some of the world's biggest paper industries, such as International Paper, Stora Enso, Nippon Paper Industries, Mitsubishi, Oji Paper and Aracruz Cellulose are involved in this research, as are many government research institutes and forestry agencies.

For more information on GE trees see www.stopgetrees.org and http://www.wrm.org.uy/subjects/GMTrees/text.pdf
For debate on the topic see http://www.conservatree.org/paperlisteningstudy/Forests/question70.html

The deadline for comments to the UN is November 30. They should be sent to:
Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1N9 Canada
secretariat@biodiv.org
Please also send a blind cc (bcc) of your written comments to info@stopgetrees.org
If you would like help with this process or have questions, contact: info@globaljusticeecology.org