Film: A Silent Forest

Film evenings begin with potluck refreshments & social hour at 6:30 pm,
followed by the film at 7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after the film.

A SILENT FOREST
by Ed Schehl

Here is a documentary about the largely unknown potential danger to human health, and the environmental health of our planet, posed by the planned introduction of genetically engineered trees. Narrated by David Suzuki, the film lays out, in compelling detail, the dangers of open-air plantations of these untested man-made trees. Genetically modified (GM) trees are not science fiction, Suzuki tells us. There are hundreds and possibly thousands of GM tree test plots all over the world. GM DNA is inserted into the embryos of plants usually using a bacterium or virus. These genes would be extracted from an unrelated organism, whose transfer could never happen naturally, or by hybridization. Herbicide resistant trees can be sprayed with company herbicide and survive, but many other plants and species die. GM low lignin trees have had half their strength removed. They grow faster and are cheaper and easier for the paper industry to pulp. But they are vulnerable to environmental stresses such as high winds. Once fallen, they decompose quicker, returning C02 to the atmosphere at an accelerated timescale. The total tree is a pesticide — it is a systemic toxin that kills all insects that feed on it, with no specific target, and no limit as to what is harmed.

Imagine our declining pollinators — bees, moths, butterflies and bats — coming upon thousands of acres of toxic trees, genetically engineered so that every cell in the tree exudes pesticide, from crown to root. Imagine a world without pollinators; without seed dispersers; without soil microbes. It would be a silent forest, a killing forest, an alien forest. Vandana Shiva tells us that biotechnology: “is not a life technology. It’s a death science.” Genetically engineered forests are a holocaust on nature.

In easy to understand terms, this film explains the severe ramifications of infiltrating our lands with genetically modified or engineered trees and plants (GMO). It seems that many scientists are willing to plow ahead with an agenda that has unknown consequences for the future of Life as we know it. If this is allowed to continue, in just 10 to 20 years our land will become contaminated and unable to sustain Life. But we can fight against this insanity by collectively banning together. The first step is arming ourselves with knowledge. This film is a wake-up call to the dangers of the genetic engineering of plants and trees, and the devastating impact this will have on the land, the food supply, the animals, insects and all of us. We must all wake up and smell the roses because in the future, the roses may not have any smell at all.

This film is brought to us by California Right to Know – campaigning for the passage of proposition 37 (labeling GMO foods sold in California) in our November ballots.

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