Archived press release

Lake district national park first to go gm-free

22 July 2003

Today the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) became the first National Park to vote to go GM-free. The decision was warmly welcomed by Friends of the Earth, which launched a GM-free Britain campaign to highlight levels of local authority opposition to GM [1].

The Lake District vote follows the publication yesterday of the Government's official GM science review revealed the many gaps and uncertainties in scientific knowledge of GM crops and food. The Government is coming under increasing pressure from local authorities to refuse to allow GM crops to be commercially grown in the UK.

A number of local authorities have already taken steps to go GM-free [2] and more are poised to follow suit later with votes taking place at Somerset and Cumbria county councils this week [3].

The LDNPA voted to protect its status as a GM-free area and agreed to apply to prevent GM crops from being grown in the Lake District (using European legislation [4]), to ban GM crops on land over which it has control and to adopt a GM-free policy for services such as school meals [5].

South Lakeland Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner, Marianne Bennett, said:

"We are delighted that the Lake District National Park has taken this issue so seriously. The authority has a clear duty to safeguard the park's environment - GM crops pose a real threat to wildlife as well as farmers, such as organic producers, who want to keep their crops GM-free. By voting for a precautionary approach, the Lake District National Park has shown it wants to protect our environment and farming from GM pollution now and in the future".

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:

"This is a fantastic result and a first for National Parks. We very much hope that others will now follow suite. Many local authorities across the country have already taken steps to go GM-free. This is more evidence that people do not want their food, farming and environment contaminated with GM pollution, and another reason why the Government must refuse to allow GM crops to be commercially grown in the UK".

The Government will decide later this year whether to grow GM crops commercially in the UK and is conducting a national debate. Two strands of the debate have already reported; the cost benefit review concluded that there are no benefits in growing GM crops in the short term, and the science review, published today, highlights the many uncertainties over long term impact on human health and the environment. The public debate, which will report in September, is likely to confirm strong consumer opposition to GM.

Notes

[1] In October last year Friends of the Earth launched its GM-free Britain (www.gmfreebritain.com) campaign to persuade local authorities to take action on GM food and crops. This includes taking action to stop tenant farmers growing GM crops, and banning GM food from local food services such as school meals and residential homes. They can also write to the Government and Brussels applying, under new European laws, to be excluded from growing certain GM crops.

[2] Those that have already taken GM-free action include the Welsh National Assembly, Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, Cornwall, Warwickshire, Shropshire and South Gloucestershire. They have been joined numerous town, city and district councils including York, Ryedale and South Hams in Devon.

[3] Somerset County Council are expected to vote on Wednesday 23^rd July and Cumbria County Council on Thursday 24^th July.

[4] Local Authorities can request legal protection of their areas from particular GM crops using Article 19 of the Deliberate Release Directive 2001/19/EC. For more explanation see briefing on GM-Free local areas:

www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/gmfree_local_areas.pdf (PDF†)

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust