IFOAM | Is Genetic Engineering Affecting Biodiversity

"Organic farming has been shown to provide major benefits for wildlife and the wider environment. The best that can be said about genetically engineered crops is that they will now be monitored to see how much damage they cause." -- Prince Charles

Genetic engineering represents a new dimension in an industrial agriculture with a strong tendency towards more monocultures, and thus a continuing loss of biodiversity. Furthermore, genetic engineering removes the barriers that have protected the integrity of species for millions of years.

“There are probably good reasons why it is impossible for a conventional plant-breeder to combine plant genes with animal genes.
Those reasons have to do with the very survival of life on earth, and we ignore them at our peril” Genetic Engineering at a Historic Crossroads
-Sierra Club.

Many experts fear that genetic engineering will dramatically accelerate the loss of biodiversity. A study in 2000 titled 'Genetically Modified Crops and Farmland Biodiversity'.(Science: Vol. 289, No. 5484, 1 Sept.) predicts that a massive release of herbicide resistant GM-crops could lead to the extinction of the already threatened skylark which eats seeds from weed species. In herbicide resistant GM-monocultures some of these weeds may be eradicated. This could not only threaten the skylark, but also other seed-eating birds and insects.

IFOAM GMO Brochure -The facts and the fiction, from bees and carrots 4 stories, your questions our answers

Genetically Modified Crops and Farmland Biodiversity by Les G. Firbank and Frank Forcella

"We have shown on hundreds of examples that small scale sustainable agriculture in the South can lead to enormous production increases . . . The key to success was each time: diversity instead of monocultures. But genetic engineering is pushing monocultures. It’s no recipe for the South."
-- Professor Miguel Altieri

	Is Genetic Engineering Affecting Biodiversity



	"Organic farming has been shown to provide major benefits for wildlife and the wider environment. The best that can be said about genetically engineered crops is that they will now be monitored to see how much damage they cause." -- Prince Charles Genetic engineering represents a new dimension in an industrial agriculture with a strong tendency towards more monocultures, and thus a continuing loss of biodiversity. Furthermore, genetic engineering removes the barriers that have protected the integrity of species for millions of years. “There are probably good reasons why it is impossible for a conventional plant-breeder to combine plant genes with animal genes. Those reasons have to do with the very survival of life on earth, and we ignore them at our peril” Genetic Engineering at a Historic Crossroads -Sierra Club. Many experts fear that genetic engineering will dramatically accelerate the loss of biodiversity. A study in 2000 titled 'Genetically Modified Crops and Farmland Biodiversity'.(Science: Vol. 289, No. 5484, 1 Sept.) predicts that a massive release of herbicide resistant GM-crops could lead to the extinction of the already threatened skylark which eats seeds from weed species. In herbicide resistant GM-monocultures some of these weeds may be eradicated. This could not only threaten the skylark, but also other seed-eating birds and insects. IFOAM GMO Brochure -The facts and the fiction, from bees and carrots 4 stories, your questions our answers Genetically Modified Crops and Farmland Biodiversity by Les G. Firbank and Frank Forcella "We have shown on hundreds of examples that small scale sustainable agriculture in the South can lead to enormous production increases . . . The key to success was each time: diversity instead of monocultures. But genetic engineering is pushing monocultures. It’s no recipe for the South." -- Professor Miguel Altieri Genetically Modified vs. Organic -assessing new technologies and the principle of precaution Mothers for Natural Law: What are the Dangers of Genetic Engineering? Questions or comments contact the Platform Coordinator




	IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture \| info@ifoam.org