The map reference for the site can be easily found on the Department of Environment's GM website. The company, which also has non-genetic test sites in more than 140 countries, employs 1,000 staff at the site in Berkshire. The lignin reduction test has been funded by the European Commission, and a similar partner experiment is under way in France. In the spring, a new group called the GE Free Forests Coalition was formed, based in London, to fight the burgeoning GM tree industry. Trees are much closer to the wild than genetic engineered crops which have been interbred for centuries.
Trees have an urge to spread their genes.
There has already been a case with GM aspens in Germany flowering when they were supposed not to be able to. We are alarmed that these trees will pollute the environment. These companies meeting in Oxford are looking for profits and are out of control. Reducing the amount of lignin affects the trees' resistance to insects. We have no idea what pests and diseases will be let loose which can spread to our natural forests.