GE Trees, The Promise of False Forests By Michael A. Bengwayan, Ph.D. Env. Science (Part 1)

GE Trees, The Promise of False  Forests

By Michael A. Bengwayan, Ph.D. Env. Science
(Part 1)

There is another false promise in the environmental front. That of genetically-engineered trees

It comes after biotechnologists, have created GMO food crops.,

Trumpeted  as the new green solution  that they will save native forests, protect wildlife and biodiversity, mitigate climate

change, and more, GE trees are now here

 But behind these false promises is a very different reality.

Instead, trees are being genetically engineered for a range of purposes aimed to accelerate large-scale, industrial monoculture tree plantations and increase profits for biotechnology companies as well as paper, biofuel, lumber, and energy industries.

Already, tree plantations of eucalyptus, poplar, oil palm, and pine trees are widely planted around the world and have a legacy of extending deforestation, polluting ecosystems, and often violating human rights in local communities.

As the Philippines is poised on the precipice of adopting this novel, unregulated, and untested technology, we write this technical on GE trees to  explore the troubling short- and longterm

ecological and socioeconomic dangers that transgenic trees pose.

Fundamentally, GE trees—and tree plantations—extend and exacerbate an industrial, chemical-centric approach to agriculture that has already polluted soils, waterways, and air; diminished biodiversity; and emitted greenhouse gases.

As with GE crops, monoculture GE tree plantations will require repeated and widespread dousing of chemicals to eliminate pests and plant diseases. But, eventually, these pests and plant pathogens become resistant to chemicals and require more toxic brews.

CURRENT STATUS OF GE IN THE WORLD

Currently, there are five GE trees approved for commercial planting: virus-resistant papaya and plum in the US, another variety of virus-resistant papaya in China, and two species of poplar engineered for insect resistance in China. The GE papaya in the US is grown on around one thousand acres in Hawaii,1 and the GE plum has yet to be planted on a commercial scale.

In China, a European black poplar engineered with an insecticide derived from Bacillus

thuringiensis (Bt) is widely grown, with more than one million trees planted on hundreds of hectares as of 2003.  Another insect-resistant poplar was also approved for commercialization in China—a hybrid between white poplar and two Chinese poplar species—and is engineered with Bt and a novel insecticide, API, from arrowhead lily.  

There are no reliable reports of how many of these GE white poplar hybrid trees have been planted. China also has commercialized a virus-resistant papaya, similar to the Hawaiian varieties. This papaya is thought to be widely planted in China, but there are no reliable estimates of acreage planted.  Both Hawaiian and Chinese virus-resistant papaya trees are approved to grow commercially and are being grown in Hong Kong as well.

There are hundreds of field trials with dozens of GE tree species around the world. In the US, trees in the genus Populus, such as poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods are the most common experimental GE forest trees, along with species of pines and other conifers, and eucalyptus. Field trials of GE citrus and apples trees are also underway, along with a small field trial of GE banana trees. Currently, there are over 1,000 acres of GE tree field trials in 20 states.

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In 2010, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a widespread planting of experimental GE eucalyptus trees, covering 28 open-air test sites across seven southern states totaling 330 acres. These field trials, planted by ArborGen, the largest tree bio -technology company in the US, consisted of at least a quarter million GE eucalyptus trees.

Based on these field trials, ArborGen, a joint venture of MeadWestvaco Corp and New Zealand’s Rubicon Ltd, requested permission from the USDA in 2011 to allow commercial plantings of its freeze-tolerant eucalyptus (FTE). If permitted, the GE eucalyptus will be the first transgenic forest tree approved for unrestricted cultivation and will most likely pave the path for speedy clearance of other GE tree species.