The published paper can be viewed online at:
www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/rspb20043049.pdf
electronic appendix:
www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/rspb20043049supp.pdf

1.Transgenic crops take another knock
2.WELSH FARMERS DISMISS CLAIM BY GM FIRM'S BOSS
3.GM Crops 'Harm Wildlife'
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1.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.

[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.

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."
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2.WELSH FARMERS DISMISS CLAIM BY GM FIRM'S BOSS
UNDEB AMAETHWYR CYMRU
FARMERS' UNION OF WALES
Llys Amaeth, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BT.
Ffon/Tel: (01970) 820820. Ffacs/Fax: (01970)
820821
E-bost/E-mail: [email protected]
Gwe-fan/Website: www.fuw.org.uk
16 MARCH 2005

THE Farmers' Union of Wales today hit back at the boss of American biotechnology giant Monsanto after he claimed that most British farmers want to grow genetically modified crops.

Speaking on Radio 4's Farming Today programme, company president Hugh Grant also said that he hoped that GM crops could be grown in the UK within five to 10 years.

"Hugh Grant is taking us all for a ride if he really believes that most farmers want to grow GM crops," said FUW President Gareth Vaughan.

"This may come as a blow to Mr Grant, but surveys have shown that 90 per cent of the British public don't want GM crops and it is our experience that the vast majority of farmers don't want them either," said Mr Vaughan.

The FUW is at the forefront of a campaign to make Wales a GM-free zone, and the organisation has worked alongside Friends of the Earth Cymru, GM Free Wales and the National Federation of Women's Institutes to achieve this aim.

"In our experience, the vast majority of Welsh farmers are against the growing of GM crops because of the seemingly endless list of unanswered questions that surround them," said Mr Vaughan.

"Most Welsh farmers believe that GM crops are unnecessary and could damage Wales' excellent reputation as a supplier of clean, green, traditionally produced food - sentiments that reflect the general public's widely held views on GM crops," he said.

"As well as worries over adverse environmental effects and the possible dangers of GM food, the FUW is also concerned that GM crops are being developed in a way that could effectively enslave farmers, compelling them to become customers of particular companies."
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3.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.”

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