For decades, the Forest Stewardship Council also known as the FSC has had a core policy of prohibiting the commercial use of genetically engineered or genetically modified trees in its certification program. But that ban is currently under threat as commercial interests push for a plan that would have the FSC overseeing test plots of GE trees in what has euphemistically been called a learning project.

Currently the US government is also considering allowing the release of genetically engineered American chestnut trees into US forests. Along with opponents in North America, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (also known as CBAN) has noted that this dangerous experiment threatens a spread of GE trees into Canadian forests as well.

CBAN has recently released a report The Global Status of Genetically Engineered Tree Development: A Growing Threat, which sheds light on the current status of efforts to genetically engineer trees for release into the wild and use on plantations.

In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.

Click here to Take Action to stop the USDA from releasing GE trees into wild forests