GMO-free europe

At their final plenary the participants of the GMO-Free Regions Conference 2007 adopted the following call for a World Summit on GMO-Free Diversity in Bonn (Germany), 12-16 May 2008:

"We, the participants of the 3rd Conference of GMO-Free Regions in Europe invite the farmers, gardeners and consumers of the world to celebrate the diversity of our seed and food and cultures and their freedom from GMOs, patents and corporate control. This celebration will coincide with and address the meeting of the parties of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Convention on Biodiversity in Bonn, Germany in May 2008. We call upon organisations, communities and institutions from around the world to join us in organising this event and to contribute to its program. Let us join forces for the freedom of seed and reproduction and the freedom from GMOs and patents on life. Let us also make our message be heard be the representatives of governments as well a the people of the world."

A local organising committee has been formed, now seeking partners from all regions and continents of the globe in order to facilitate a truly international event.
What we have in mind so far is a three-day international conference and a week of celebrations, exhibitions and events. We are seeking your advice on the programme, and we call for your participation and contributions – your imagination and causes, your recipes and traditions, your seeds and success stories. We also invite your suggestions on how to defend natural and cultivated biodiversity against the threats of a genetically engineered industrial agriculture.

For more details and translations check www.gmo-free-regions.org/worldsummit2008.html

If you would like to be part of these celebrations and events, please respond to this call within the coming weeks and no later than July 15th.

The members of the provisional organising Committee are:
GENET (European NGO network on genetic engineering, 50 members), CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL, GREENPEACE, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, IFOAM (Int. Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements), ABL (Family Farmers Union, member of Via Campesina), Church Development Service (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst - EED), Initiative of GE-Free Seed Breeders (IG Saatgut), BUKO Agro coordination, Save Our Seeds (Foundation on Future Farming)