Farm Scale Trials of GE Crops in UK Show Harm to Environment & Wildlife

From <gaia@gaianet.org March 28, 2005

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The final set of UK Farm Scale Evaluations (FSEs) on GM crops has also proven that GM crops are damaging to the environment. These trials, (on Winter Oilseed Rape) confirm what was already known from the previous FSE trials on Spring Oilseed Rape, Sugar Beet, and Fodder Maize, the results of which were published last year.

No GM crops are grown in the UK, and although there would be a minimum of 3 years' trials before any crop can be commercialised, it looks like these final trials have reduced the chance of GM ever being grown in the UK. Not only did the FSEs show that GM is damaging the the environment, the UK government's own Scientific and Economic reports into the issue have shown there is little benefit to growing the crops, while the public debate showed clearly that the public was strongly resistant to their presence in agriculture and food. (See Gaia Mailouts "UK Farm Scale Evaluations" 17/10/03; "GM Science Review Has Environmental Concerns" 29/7/03; "No Economic Benefits for GM in the UK" 15/7/03 and "UK Governments Face a GM Battle" 26/9/03)

Even though (in spite of all the evidence) the government announced in 2004 that planting for a certain kind of GM fodder maize was to be permitted, the company that sold the variety (Bayer) pulled out when it admitted that the specific conditions that the crop must be grown under, were too rigorous for them. (See Gaia Mailout "GM Will Not Be Grown in the UK!" 6/4/04).

As a result, the UK Conservative opposition party, (aka the "Tories") have made an election pledge to keep Britain GM-Free until GM is proven beyond a doubt to be safe and liability structures are in place.

Best wishes,

Teresa

************************

1. The End for GM Crops: Final British Trial Confirms Threat to Wildlife
Article from the Independent. Date: 22 March 2005
Steve Connor, Michael McCarthy and Colin Brown
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=622479

2. GM study shows potential 'harm'
Article by BBC. Date: 23 March 2005
Jonathan Amos

3.Tories Call for Curb on GM Crops
Article from the Daily Telegraph. Date: 22 March 2005
Charles Clover

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/22/ngm22.xml&sS
heet=/news/2005/03/22/ixhome.html

4.Latest FSE Results are No Justification for GM Go Ahead
Press release from the Five Year Freeze. Date: 22 March 2005 5.Transgenic crops take another knock

5.Article from Nature. Date: 21 March 2005
Jim Giles
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/050321-2.html

6.GM Crops 'Harm Wildlife'
Article from Press Association. Date: 23 March 2005
By Graham Hiscott
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4291985
***********************

1. The End for GM Crops: Final British Trial Confirms Threat to Wildlife

Article from the Independent. Date: 22 March 2005
Steve Connor, Michael McCarthy and Colin Brown
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=622479

Yet another nail was hammered into the coffin of the GM food industry in Britain yesterday when the final trial of a four-year series of experiments found, once more, that genetically modified crops can be harmful to wildlife.

The study was the fourth in a series that has, in effect, sealed the fate of GM in the UK - at least in the foreseeable future. They showed the ultra-powerful weedkillers that the crops are engineered to tolerate would bring about further damage to a countryside already devastated by intensive farming.

Only one of the four farm-scale trials, which have gone on for nearly five years, showed that growing GM crops might be less harmful to birds, flowers and insects than the non-GM equivalent - and even that was attacked as flawed, because the weedkiller the particular conventional crop required was so destructive it was about to be banned by the EU.

Even so, a year ago the Government gave a licence for that crop - a maize known as Chardon LL, created by the German chemical group Bayer - to be grown in Britain, thus officially opening the way for the GM era in Britain, to loud protests from environmentalists.

However, only three weeks later Bayer withdrew its application, suggesting the regulatory climate would be too inhibiting. That followed the withdrawal from Europe of the world leader in GM crops, the American biotech giant Monsanto, which also seemed to have tired of the struggle.

Since then, the GM industry in Britain has withered on the vine, despite the fact that some members of the Government, and Tony Blair in particular, were privately great supporters of it from the outset. Official policy is portrayed as being neutral and based simply on scientific advice.

But yesterday's results make it even less likely that other big agribusiness firms will want to come forward and go through the extensive testing process
- and public opposition - that bringing a GM crop to market in Britain would
involve.

Last night, the Conservatives spotted a political opportunity from the latest test results and, this morning, the shadow Environment Secretary, Tim Yeo, will pledge to prevent any commercial planting of GM crops until science showed it would be safe for people and the environment, and there was a liability regime in place to deal with any cross-contamination.

Observers saw that as yet another Tory attempt to win over Middle England voters in the pre-election campaign.

The fourth and final mass experiment involving GM crops has found that they caused significant harm to wild flowers, butterflies, bees and probably songbirds. Results of the farm-scale trial of winter-sown oilseed rape raised further doubts about whether GM crops can ever be grown in Britain without causing further damage to the nation's wildlife.

Although the experiment did not look directly at the catastrophic demise of farmland birds over the past 50 years, ornithologists said the results suggested that growing GM oilseed rape would almost certainly exacerbate the problem.

David Gibbons, the head of conservation at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said the herbicides used to spray GM rape killed broad-leaved wild flowers such as chickweed and fat hen which are important to the diet of songbirds such as skylarks, tree sparrows and bullfinches.

"For most farmland birds, broad-leaved weeds are a particularly important part of their diet. There are a few birds that will take grass seeds but, by and large, it would be hard to see how the loss of broad-leaved weeds would be beneficial to them," Dr Gibbons said. "Broad-leaved weeds are particularly important to farmland birds and the widespread cultivation of this crop, in this way, would damage hopes of reversing their decline."

The trial of winter oilseed rape involved planting conventional and GM forms of the crop in adjacent plots at 65 sites across Britain. Scientists then carefully monitored wild flowers, grasses, seeds, bees, butterflies and other invertebrates. Over the course of the three-year experiment, the scientists counted a million weeds, two million insects and made 7,000 field trips. Although they found similar overall numbers of weeds in the two types of crop, broad-leaved weeds such as chickweed were far fewer in the GM plots. The scientists counted fewer bees and butterflies in the GM plots compared to plots of conventional oilseed rape.

Les Firbank, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Lancaster, who led the study, said that there was about one-third fewer seeds from broad-leaved flowers in the GM plots compared to fields with conventional oilseed rape.

"These differences were still present two years after the crop had been sown ... So we've got a significant biological difference that is carrying on from season to season," he said.

GM oilseed rape is genetically designed to be resistant to a weedkiller that would kill the non-GM crop. It means that farmers are free to use broader-spectrum herbicides.

The three previous farm-scale trials into crops investigated spring-sown oilseed rape, maize and beet. These showed that growing GM rape and GM beet did more harm to wildlife than their conventional counterparts.

"All of the evidence that we've got from the farm-scale evaluations points out that differences between the treatments are due to the herbicides. It's the nature of the chemicals and the timing at which the farming is done," Dr Firbank said.

Christopher Pollock, chairman of the scientific steering committee that oversaw the farm-scale trials, said: "What's good for the farmer is not always good for the natural populations of weeds, insects, birds and butterflies that share that space."

Farm-scale trials of GM crops are unique to Britain and represent the first time that scientists have evaluated the environmental impact of a new farming practice before it has been introduced, Professor Pollock said. Results of the latest trial are published in /Proceedings of the Royal Society B/.

*The Four Tests*

*Test 1: Spring-sown oilseed rape, October 2003*
Nationwide tests found that biotech oilseed rape sown in the spring could be more harmful to many groups of wildlife than their conventional equivalent. There were fewer butterflies among modified crops, due to there being less weeds. *Verdict: GM fails.*

*Test 2: Sugar beet, October 2003*
The GM crop was found to be potentially more harmful to its environment than crops that were unmodified. Bees and butterflies were recorded more frequently around conventional crops, due to greater numbers of weeds.
*Verdict: GM fails.*

*Test 3: Maize, October 2003*
The production of biotech maize was shown to be kinder to other plants and animals compared to conventional crops. More weeds grew around the biotech maize crops, attracting more butterflies, bees and weed seeds. *Verdict: GM passes, but critics brand study as flawed.*

*Test 4: Winter-sown oilseed rape, March 2005*
Tests showed that fields sown with the biotech crop had fewer broad-leaved weeds growing in them. This impacted on the numbers of bees and butterflies, which feed on such weeds. *Verdict: GM fails.*

*HALF A CENTURY OF DEBATE*

/1953: /James Watson and Francis Crick unravel double-helix form of DNA,
making biotechnology a possibility.

/1983:/ Kary Mullis, a scientist and surfer from California, discovers the
polymerase chain-reaction which allows tiny pieces of DNA to be replicated
rapidly. Shortly after, US patents to produce GM plants are awarded to
companies. US Environment Protection Agency approves release of first GM crop: virus-resistant tobacco. /1987: /Potato becomes first GM plant introduced to UK. /1994: /Flavr Savr tomato is approved by US Food and Drug Administration, paving way for more GM products. /1997: /Public find Monsanto GM soya is used, unlabelled, in processed UK food. /June 1998:/The Prince of Wales stokes debate by saying he will neither eat GM produce nor serve it to his family or friends. /July 1998: /English Nature, the Government's wildlife advisory body, calls for a moratorium on planting of GM crops while trials are conducted into effects on wildlife of their weedkillers. /February 1999:/Michael Meacher, the environment minister, persuades GM companies to agree to a moratorium until farm-scale weedkiller trials are done. /Spring 2000: /Farm-scale trials of GM crops begin. /October 2003: /Preliminary results find that two of three GM crops are believed to damage the environment. /March 2004:/Cabinet members approve qualified planting of first UK GM crop.

*************************************************

2. GM study shows potential 'harm'

Article by BBC. Date: 23 March 2005
Jonathan Amos

The FSEs considered two types of oilseed rape

*The fourth and final test of a GM crop grown under UK farm conditions has highlighted the detrimental effects the novel plants can have on wildlife.*

The tests of a winter-sown oilseed rape showed the management of the biotech crop could reduce the weeds and seeds available to some insects and birds.

And scientists found these effects could linger in fields year after year.

But they also stressed the picture was complex and there were circumstances in which GM might be beneficial as well.

The results for three other types of engineered crops - a spring-sown oilseed rape, a sugar beet and a maize - were published in October 2003.

Only the maize was approved for commercialisation under strict conditions.

The £6m UK Farm-Scale Evaluations (FSEs) of genetically modified (GM) plants have been described as the biggest ecological experiment in the world and a model for measuring the impact of new farming techniques on the environment.

And scientists believe they have raised major questions about how we farm and manage the countryside - over and above what type of crop technology is used in the field.

"The FSEs have drawn attention to an issue of balance," said Professor Chris Pollock, the chair of the FSEs' Scientific Steering Committee.

"They've highlighted that what's good for the farmer is not always good for the population of weeds, insects and birds that share that space.

"It is the way in which different forms of agriculture affect this balance that is exposed so clearly in the FSEs."

As with the first three FSE trialists, the winter-sown oilseed rape was modified to tolerate a particular herbicide, which meant it could be sprayed and still flourish while all the competing plants (weeds) around it died off.

It was grown at 65 sites from the north of Scotland to the south of England, side by side with a conventional variety and in a standard rotation with other plants, such as barley and wheat.

Intensive agriculture has put many farmland birds under pressure

Scientists said that when compared with conventional winter-sown rapeseed, the novel plant kept the same number of weeds overall but that there were differences seen between the weed types.

GM management led to more grass weeds but fewer broad-leaved weeds, such as chickweed and fat hen. The flowers of these "pest" plants attract insects, and their seeds are also important for many bird species, such as the skylark, tree sparrow and bullfinch.

"There is a lot of knowledge about bird diets and, generally, it's fair to say for most farmland birds, broad-leaved weeds are particularly important," said Dr David Gibbons, a steering committee member from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

"I think if this crop were commercialised on a widespread basis, we would be worried about the implications that could have."

The researchers also found slightly more insects that liked to feast on decaying plant material in the GM fields, but slightly fewer butterflies and bees.

However, they emphasised that these differences arose not because the crop was genetically altered but because of the different times at which the fields were sprayed. And they argued that other environmentally friendly practices on a farm were likely to have a far greater impact on biodiversity than simply switching between a non-GM or GM crop.

"It's one of those issues where you can look down either end of the telescope," explained Dr Les Firbank, who led the consortium of FSE scientists.

"Is there an effect of [the GM] cropping system on butterflies? Yes. But if you want to conserve the butterflies, is this the effect you'd be concentrating on? No. You'd be concentrating on getting far more wild flowers in and around the fields."

This point was picked up by green lobby groups such as Friends Of The Earth. "The FSEs specifically didn't examine the impact of organic agriculture," said FOE GM campaigner Emily Diamand.

"They only looked at 'bad' and 'worse'. There are more sustainable ways of farming than intensive agriculture that could benefit the environment."

And Dr Sue Meyer, the executive director of Genewatch UK, added: "The FSEs and the whole controversy around GM have opened up, quite rightly, a much broader look at what we want from agriculture.

"We need a much more holistic approach to farming and food. There are some very beneficial new approaches and new thinking that have come out of this whole process - and that is to be welcomed."

In their reaction to the latest FSE results, the biotech industry picked up the positives from the study - the reduction in the amount of herbicide required on the GM fields and the greater flexibility in the timing of spraying which could benefit some insect species by leaving more weed material in the field for longer.

"These results confirm once again that GM crops give farmers the flexibility that they need to balance economic viability with environmental responsibility," said Tony Combes, deputy chairman of abc, an umbrella group for the agricultural biotechnology industry.

"This weed management option is delicate and precise enough to allow active management for weed and insect species.

"As with all weed management systems, some weed and insect species will be positively affected while others may be negatively affected, but the vast majority are unaffected."

The results of the FSEs are intended to help government ministers decide whether or not to allow commercialisation of GM crops.

However, there are currently no applications from biotech companies in the UK or in the EU to cultivate a winter-sown oilseed rape, which in its conventional guise is planted on 300,000 hectares across the British countryside each year.

A paper detailing the scientific investigations is published in the
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Printable version <http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/te ch/4368495.stm

***********************************

3.Tories Call for Curb on GM Crops

Article from the Daily Telegraph. Date: 22 March 2005
Charles Clover
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/22/ngm22.xml&sS
heet=/news/2005/03/22/ixhome.html

A future Conservative government would ban commercial planting of genetically-modified crops until legal arrangements were in place to compensate any organic or conventional farmers whose crops were contaminated, the Tories said yesterday.

They also insisted that safe separation distances between GM and conventional crops would have to be established and crops shown to be safe for people and the environment.

The Tory agriculture manifesto was released on the day a Government farm trial reported that winter oilseed rape, genetically engineered to be herbicide-tolerant, was worse for wildlife, plants and for farmers than a conventional crop.

A Labour spokesman said the Tories had seized on an issue that "rarely comes up". "There is no expectation of GM planting prior to 2008". However, Friends of the Earth welcomed the Tory plans.

***************************************

4.Latest FSE Results are No Justification for GM Go Ahead

Press release from the Five Year Freeze. Date: 22 March 2005

The results of the farm scale evaluations of GM winter oilseed rape, published today, should not be used to justify the commercial go ahead for this controversial crop say the Five Year Freeze Campaign.

The results show less dramatic harm to wildlife than either spring oilseed rape or beet both of which were rejected by the Government in 2004 [1].

The latest results for winter oilseed rape are more variable reflecting the difficulties of conducting large scale experiments in the countryside and coming up with clear conclusions.

The latest results show:

*Fewer broad leaf weeds and seed numbers meaning less food for birds

*More grass seeds in the GM crop

*Fewer bees and butterflies in the GM crop in the summer

Commenting on the latest FSE results Pete Riley Director of the Five Year Freeze said:

"GM oilseed rape does not come out well from these results. The results are bad news for wildlife because less broad leaf weeds grow in the GM crop and bad news for farmers because the GM crop encourages problem weedy grasses like Black Grass.

"The variable results show that after 4 years and millions of public money spent, we are still no closer to finding the most sustainable way to grow winter oilseed rape. If approved GM oilseed rape will spread rapidly around the countryside bringing with it a whole new set of problems for farmers and the environment. Today's results cannot be used to justify commercial approvals for this GM crop".

Calls to Pete Riley 07903 341 065

********************************************

5.Transgenic crops take another knock

Article from Nature. Date: 21 March 2005
Jim Giles
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/050321-2.html

Shift in weed species hits bees and butterflies. [image caption: Bird experts are worried about the effects of growing transgenic winter oilseed rape.]

Commercial use of some genetically modified crops could alter the balance of weed species that thrive on British farmland. Such a shift could harm bees and butterflies, warn researchers.

Butterfly numbers were cut by up to two-thirds and bee populations by half in fields of transgenic winter oilseed rape (canola), according to the final results of a three-year study commissioned by the UK government.

Researchers behind the 6-million (US$11-million) study say that the project's weed-control system is to blame. The crops are engineered to resist a particular herbicide, which hits broad-leafed weeds harder than grassy varieties. Bees and butterflies suffer because they prefer the former type of weed.

The scientists add that this would have a knock-on effect on animals higher up the food chain. "If this crop were commercialized we'd be concerned about the implications for birds such as sparrows and bullfinches," says David Gibbons, a conservationist from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and a member of the committee that oversaw the experiment.

Crop fans

Supporters of transgenic crops stress that most insect species were not affected by the rape's herbicide and say the overall impact on biodiversity is minimal. "As with all weed-management systems, some weed and insect species will be positively affected while others may be negatively affected, but the vast majority are unaffected," says Tony Combes, deputy chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, a London-based lobbying group.

Bayer CropScience, headquartered in Monheim, Germany, already markets the winter oilseed rape used in the trial in the United States and Canada. Although the crop is grown widely in the two countries, Bayer says it has no intention of applying for a licence to sell it in Europe.

But Bayer officials point out that the biggest difference in butterfly and bee numbers is seen in July, when the crop is just about to be harvested and there is little green material. "There's nothing in the field at that point for bees and butterflies," says spokesman Julian Little. "You wouldn't get very many there anyway."

The results will, however, be felt as a further blow to advocates of transgenic crops. In 2003, two of the three other transgenic varieties covered by the study, spring oilseed rape and beet, were shown to harm biodiversity by reducing overall levels of weeds.

Impact factor

Release of the results marks the end of what has been the largest ever study into the ecological impact of transgenic crops. More than 150 people worked on the experiment, which involved counting a million weeds and 2 million insects at sites across Britain. The report is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B1.

Although none of the crops tested is likely to be licensed in Europe, researchers behind the study say that the data will inform agricultural policy for years to come. They point out that the ecological impacts of previous changes in farming practice, such as increasing herbicide use, were not properly investigated at the start.

"Now we have a rational and scientific basis for managing change," says Chris Pollock, director of research at the Institute for Grassland and Environmental Research in Aberystwyth, UK, and chairman of the study
committee. "We've demonstrated in enormous detail just how tight the association is between agriculture and the environment."

************************************************

6.GM Crops 'Harm Wildlife'

Article from Press Association. Date: 23 March 2005
By Graham Hiscott
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4291985

A major study has confirmed growing genetically-modified crops can harm wildlife, according to results published today.

Researchers compared GM winter-sown oilseed rape with a conventional version of the crop.

The findings showed fewer broad-leaved weeds, and their seeds, in fields where the GM herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape were grown.

Flowers of broad-leaved weeds are important because they provide food for insects while seeds are a crucial food source for other wildlife.

The study found fewer bees and butterflies in the GM crop compared with the conventional oilseed rape.

More grass weeds and some soil insects were discovered in the GM fields which, although beneficial for wildlife, could not make up for loss of the broad-leaved weeds.

The findings are from the last of four major farm-scale trials into the potential impact of growing GM crops commercially in the UK.

The results for three other crops ­ spring-sown oilseed rape, beet and maize ­ were published in October 2003.

They showed that growing conventional beet and spring-sown oilseed rape was better for many groups of wildlife than GM equivalents because more weeds were produced.

But the results also found more weeds in and around the GM maize crops, along with greater numbers of butterflies and bees at certain times of the year.

The research has been conducted by an independent consortium of research institutes and the work overseen by a Scientific Steering Committee chaired by Professor Chris Pollock.

The study, the biggest ecological experiment in the world, involved the collecting of one million weeds and two million bugs over a four-year period. It involved 150 people and cost around £6 million.

The results on the winter oilseeds rape will now be passed to the Government's statutory advisory body ­ the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE).

Environment minister Elliot Morley said: "I am very pleased that all results of this study, the biggest of its kind conducted anywhere in the world, are now available.

"The trials demonstrate the Government's precautionary approach on GM crops and our firm commitment to case-by-case decisions underpinned by sound scientific evidence.

"I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Chris Pollock and members of the Scientific Steering Committee that oversaw the research programme and I look forward to receiving ACRE's advice on the final results which we will consider very carefully".

Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth claim biotech giant Bayer has told the EU it wants to withdraw an application to grow the GM winter oilseed rape trialled in the UK farmscale evaluations.

Clare Oxborrow, the group's GM campaigner, said: "These results are yet another major blow to the biotech industry.

"Growing GM winter oilseed rape would have a negative impact on farmland wildlife.

"No wonder Bayer tried to withdraw its application to grow GM winter oilseed rape.

"Almost every EU country has raised serious concerns about the impact that this crop could have on our environment and health.

"Bayer should now scrap the whole application ­ including its intention to import it into the EU as food."