More than 170,000 individuals and over 440 organizations worldwide have voiced strong opposition to the release of the #GMO American chestnut tree, known as Darling 54 (D54), into wild forests. The USDA is currently considering a petition by SUNY-ESF to deregulate the tree.
In this interview, Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP), warns that D54 is genetically unstable, unproven, and could pose serious ecological risks if released into the environment.
Concerns include flawed science, disregard for Indigenous rights, and ethical issues surrounding SUNY-ESF’s collaboration with for-profit company SilvaBio to commercialize the tree. Activists are calling on the USDA to reject the deregulation petition, conduct a full ecological and social risk assessment for all GE trees, and launch an investigation into SUNY-ESF’s GE tree program. To learn more or get involved, visit: https://stopgetrees.org/chestnut/.