Threat of Genetically Engineered Trees and Growing Reliance on Tree Plantations Jeopardize Endangered Forests in South Carolina and Worldwide

[ Charleston , SC ] On Monday morning, environmental groups released a report detailing threats to native forests in South Carolina and the Americas from harmful industrial forestry practices. The focus of the report is the increased conversion of native forests and rural land to plantations, as well as the peril represented by the planned use of genetically engineered trees. The report, addressing the social and environmental impacts of monoculture plantations and genetically engineered trees, will be presented in Charleston on Wednesday at the IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) conference, “Sustainable Forest Management with Fast Growing Plantations”, co-sponsored by Summerville- based ArborGen. The paper describes the growing worldwide resistance to timber plantations and reviews the human health, environmental, and social consequences of genetically engineered trees. It documents how pollen and seeds from genetically engineered trees, which are grown experimentally in dozens of locations in South Carolina , can impair the health of native forests and threaten forest-dependent communities.

Read the report: http://pressroomda.greenmediatoolshed.org/attached-files/0/95/9512/manuscript%5ffinal%2epdf

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org