THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

24 March 2005

Dear friends and colleagues,

RE: UK STUDY FINDS GM OILSEED RAPE CROPS "HARM WILDLIFE"

We wish to bring to you the latest findings of the fourth and final farm scale trials which look into the potential impact of growing GM crops commercially in the UK. These were the largest field trials ever, and were carried out over several years, to investigate the environmental impacts of GM herbicide tolerant crops.

Researchers compared GM winter-sown oilseed rape with a conventional version of the crop. The research has been conducted by an independent consortium of research institutes and the work overseen by a Scientific Steering Committee. The results for three other crops - spring-sown oilseed rape, beet and maize - were published in October 2003. Those trials found that growing GM spring-sown oilseed rape and beet had a greater negative effect on wildlife than growing their conventional counterparts. The trials for maize showed the opposite, but have since been called into question.

The latest findings showed that growing GM winter oilseed rape has a more severe impact on farmland wildlife than its conventional counterpart.
 

Among the findings are:

* Fewer broad-leaved weeds, and their seeds, in fields where the GM herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape were grown. The amount of weeds and the number of their seeds in the GM crop were one-third of those in the conventional. Flowers of broad-leaved weeds are important because they provide food for insects while seeds are a crucial food source for other wildlife.

* Fewer bees and butterflies in the GM crop compared with the conventional oilseed rape. After the crop had flowered, there were half the number of bees and two-thirds the number of butterflies foraging in the GM crop areas, compared to the conventional.

* 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. [More weeds also create problems for farmers delete this last sentence? As a bit contradictary.]

A number of European countries are also reported to have voiced their objections to the growing of the winter oilseed rape and their reasons are as follows:

* UK: "The UK Competent Authority agrees that on the basis of the information provided in the dossier approval for cultivation should not be granted."
* Austria: "No data/studies at all on possible effects on human health are provided."
* Belgium: controlling gene flow will be "impracticable, hardly workable, and hard to control".
* France: "the French Food Safety Agency considers that the safety of genetically modified rape Ms8xRf3 from the health point of view cannot be guaranteed."
* Poland: "granting any consent for growing this species in EU territory would be inappropriate."
* Slovenia: "the gene flow from a cultivation could not be managed satisfactory, so to ensure existence of all different agricultural practices in EU, including organic farming. In the same way the gene  flow to wild relatives would be impossible to prevent."
* ltaly: "The Italian National Competent Authority agrees that no authorisation should be granted for the cultivation of the product under notification C/BE/96/01".
* Norway: "we will not support consent for this notification if it is to cover cultivation"
* "Sweden retains objection to the culitivation of this oilseed rape"

The results on the winter oilseeds rape trials will now be passed to the UK Government's statutory advisory body - the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment. The report is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B1 and is available online here.

The Electronic appendix

With best wishes,
Chee Yoke Heong and Lim Li Ching
Third World Network
121-S Jalan Utama
10450 Penang
Malaysia
Contact Us

REF: Doc.TWN/Biosafety/2005/A

Item 1

Royal Society
Press Release

Final GM Farm Scale Evaluations paper published today

The herbicide management of genetically-modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT)
winter-sown oilseed rape results in differences in the types of weeds
present, compared to growing conventional varieties, according to a paper
published today (Monday 21 March 2005) in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences*.

Sixty-five fields were sown with winter oilseed rape. Each field was split,
one half being sown with a conventional variety managed according to the
farmer's normal commercial practice for weed control, the other half being
sown with a GMHT variety, with weeds controlled by a broad-spectrum
herbicide called glufosinate-ammonium. Comparisons in biodiversity were made
by looking at the levels of weeds and invertebrates, such as beetles,
butterflies and bees.

Effects on weeds
At harvest time, in the GMHT crop, both the amount of broad-leaved flowering
weeds and the number of their seeds, which provide food for wildlife, were
one-third of those in the conventional. But in the GMHT crops there were
three times as many grass weeds and five times as many of their seeds as in
the conventional. These effects were observed in the year of cropping and
persisted in the following two years that data were collected. For the total
amounts of weeds found, there was little difference between GMHT and
conventional cropping.

Effect on invertebrates
For the majority of invertebrate species there was no significant difference
between the GMHT and conventional herbicide regimes. However, by the July
sampling, there were half the number of bees and two-thirds the number of
butterflies found foraging in the GMHT crop areas, compared to the
conventional. Also, consistent with previous Farm Scale Evaluation (FSE)
results reported for spring-sown crops, the yearly totals for springtails, a
type of detritivore which feeds on dead and decaying weeds, were higher in
the GMHT crop areas.

Dr David Bohan, one of the authors of the paper, said: "These results
present a number of interesting similarities with, but important differences
to, the results for the spring-sown crops in the FSEs published in 2003. In
terms of broad-leaved flowering weeds, the effects were broadly similar in
winter-sown oilseed rape to those seen previously in spring-sown oilseed
rape, with smaller numbers found in the GMHT crop area. But with grass weeds
there was a significant difference, with many more present in the
winter-sown GMHT crop. This resulted from relatively poor control of the
grass weeds by late-applied glufosinate-ammonium to the GMHT crops compared
with herbicides applied much earlier in the conventional."

Dr Bohan continued: "Surprisingly, given the link between numbers of weeds
and numbers of invertebrates seen in the spring-sown crops, most species
were unaffected by the changes in amounts of broad-leaved and grass weeds in
the winter-sown crop."

Dr Bohan summarised: "The study demonstrates the importance of the effects
of herbicide management on wildlife in fields and adjacent areas."

The paper can be viewed online, free-of-charge, here

Electronic appendix

*Effects on weed and invertebrate abundance and diversity of herbicide
management in genetically modified herbicide-tolerant winter-sown oilseed
rape by DA Bohan, CWH Boffey, DR Brooks, SJ Clark, AM Dewar, LG Firbank, AJ
Haughton, C Hawes, MS Heard, MJ May, JL Osborne, JN Perry, P Rothery, DB
Roy, RJ Scott, GR Squire, IP Woiwod and GT Champion.

DOI:10.1098/rspb.2004.3049

Item 2

Transgenic crops take another knock

Jim Giles

NATURE, 21 March 2005

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/050321-2.html

Shift in weed species hits bees and butterflies

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 pounds (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.
 

If this crop were commercialized we'd be concerned about the implications for birds like sparrows and bullfinches. 

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."

Item 3

Final farm-scale crop trial finds against GM

Andy Coghlan

NewScientist.com, 21 March 2005

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7178

The last of the huge "farm scale evaluations" in Britain - which tested genetically modified crops against their conventional counterparts - has found that weedkiller-resistant winter oilseed rape (canola) is marginally worse for farmland wildlife than its non-GM counterpart.

In the results published in 2004, GM spring oilseed rape and GM sugar beet also came out worse for wildlife, while GM maize came out better.

The less clear cut verdict for winter oilseed rape arrived on Monday, giving an overall 3-1 victory for the conventional crop varieties over the equivalent GM crops.

But this time, the difference between the GM and conventional varieties was much smaller. And as before, the researchers say that the result hinges not on whether plants are GM or not, but on the weedkiller regimes the farmers use to manage the different crops.

Appealing seeds

Although GM and conventional plots supported the same amount of weeds, the balance in the GM fields shifted away from the broadleaf weeds whose seeds are favoured by birds - especially finches, such as yellowhammers. In their place grew grassy weeds whose seeds are less appealing.

But, complicating the picture, beneficial insects such as springtails were more plentiful on the GM plots. Pollock said that the winter rape results broadly matched those with spring rape, but were less emphatic.

But although all the results are now in, Pollock cautions against using them as the final word on GM crops. "The nub of the debate is how you farm, and what we share with the wildlife," he says.

Abandoning winter growing altogether would be the most beneficial outcome for birds. This is because weeds and stubble in the fallow fields provide them with food that they are denied if the farmer grows crops instead. But growing winter crops allows farmers to farm more efficiently. "It's society's choice," Pollock adds.

Item 4

GM Crops 'Harm Wildlife'

By Graham Hiscott, PA

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."