Since the time of Bruegel, poplars have been a defining feature of the Belgian landscape. Some recent additions, however, are provoking a storm of international protest. In May the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) planted an outdoor field trial of poplar trees genetically engineered specifically for the production of cellulosic ethanol or industrial biofuel.
Environmentalists want the trials stopped. ‘Genetically engineered trees that can spread their pollen for hundreds of kilometres should be classified as an alien invasive species,’ insisted Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project Executive Director. ‘They can contaminate native forests with dangerous and unnatural traits that can cause extensive damage to forest biological diversity.’
