Den Baltiske Bitur 2001
The Baltic Bee Tour 2001
28. august 2001
Friends of the Earth's 2 meter høje bi har nu afsluttet sin turné i de baltiske lande. Bien er symbol for den Europæiske GMO-kampagne.
Fra d. 13. til 25. august rejste 20 miljøfolk fra Estland, Letland, Litauen og Danmark sammen i to minibusser gennem de baltiske lande og Danmark. Målet var at sprede information omkring gensplejsning, og om de miljø- og sundhedsmæssige effekter der er ved genteknologien.
Hver dag blev udstillingen vist i en ny by. Se skema.
Engelsk hjemmeside om det dansk-baltiske projekt: www.baltic-gmo.net
Læs også: Engelsk pressemeddelelse
NYT:
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| Bien ses her under stor tv-overvågning i Vilnius, Litauen. Bien har gensplejsede pollen på benene (lyserøde), hvilket skal illustrere at spredning med gensplejset materiale er uundgåelig i såvel naturen som fra den ene mark til den anden. |
Day Date City Country
Sunday 12/8 Meeting in Vilnius to prepare Lithuania
Monday 13/8 Vilnius Lithuania
Tuesday 14/8 Kaunas Lithuania
Wednesday 15/8 Klaipeda Lithuania
Thursday 16/8 Kuldiga Latvia
Friday 17/8 Riga Latvia
Saturday 18/8 Cesis or Valmiera Latvia
Sunday 19/8 Pärnu - day off Estonia
Monday 20/8 Pärnu Estonia
Tuesday 21/8 Tartu Estonia
Wednesday 22/8 Tallinn (ferry to Sweden) Estonia
Thursday 23/8 Kappelskär-Copenhagen Sweden-DK
Friday 24/8 Roskilde & Party Denmark
Saturday 25/8 Copenhagen DK - Sweden
FoE's Bee returns from successful GMO awareness-raising tour of Baltic states
Press release, Friends of the Earth Europe, August 28, 2001
After two weeks of successful campaigning, Friends of the Earth's two-metre high Bee has returned from the Baltics. The bee is a symbol of FoE's European campaign to Halt GMO Pollution and the Baltic trip was coordinated by FoE's Danish member group NOAH.
During the second half of August, fifteen volunteers from four environmental organizations toured Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Denmark. Until now, the term "GMO" was almost unknown to most people in the Baltic countries. But with the Bee exhibition taking place in nine different cities, both the media and the public were very interested in the information available. In all three countries, leaflets had to be urgently reprinted as they were snatched up by interested people. Many asked to have several copies in order to pass them on to relatives and neighbors.
Media coverage of the tour has been immense. It was covered by the main newspapers in all the Baltic countries and was featured on the main TV news in both Lithuania and Estonia. The campaigners accompanying the Bee gave radio interviews daily.
Apart from the Bee itself and the leaflets, the travelling exhibition included posters in national languages and a kids drawing competition as well as an adult competition on knowledge about GMOs. For some people, it was a tough issue to understand. For example, when asked how GM food could be recognized: a) by the smell, b) by the pink colour or c) not at all - it looks like any ordinary food, several people answered that it could be recognised by the smell or even by the colour.
In all three Baltic States, framework legislation on the deliberate release of GMOs is in force. Both Latvia and Estonia have laws on labelling GM food, although no food has actually been labelled so far. Currently, the first official food testing (for GM soya and maize) is taking place in Estonia. There have been minor experimental releases of GM fodder and sugar beet in Lithuania during 1998-2000, but all three companies involved have chosen not to continue field tests in 2001. According to the authorities, there are no deliberate releases of GMO, either experimental or commercial, in any of the three countries this year.
However, it is feared that unauthorised GM potatoes from Ukraine or even unauthorised GM tomatoes from Poland could slip unnoticed into the Baltic countries. According to NOAH's Sofie Krogh-Andersen: "The main way of spreading GMOs in Central and Eastern Europe might not be cross-pollination but rather ill-informed farmers stealing GM crops from experimental field and growing them for commercialisation". "It's therefore important that the authorities keep a strict eye on the market and start to test food also in Latvia and Lithuania" she said.
Gill Lacroix of FoE Europe said that the Baltic tour had proved how crucial it is to raise people's understanding about GMOs. "The CEECs are potentially fertile territory for biotech companies since public awareness is very low, and legislation or control systems are way below EU level". "It's therefore vital to increase knowledge and capacity in those countries before they find themselves overrun with GMOs" she said.
Notes:
(1) http://www.foeeurope.org/Halt-GMO-Pollution
(2) The organisations which joined forces on GMO campaigning in THE BALTIC GMO NETWORK are: Vilnius Nature Protection Society Youth (Branch of FoE Lithuania), Green Liberty (Branch of FoE Latvia) and Green Movement (FoE Estonia). The Baltic GMO Network is cooperating with NOAH (FoE Denmark)
