[A2k] GMO-Free World Summit on Diversity - Bonn, May 2008

[Volker Grassmuck]

http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/worldsummit2008.html


GMO-Free World Summit on Diversity - Bonn, May 2008

At their final plenary the participants of the GMO-Free Regions
Conference 2007 adopted the following call for a "GMO-Free World
Summit on Diversity" in 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.

 Download the call in English, French and German for print
http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/fileadmin/files/gmo-free-
regions/Call_for_Bonn_2008_e_d_f.pdf

In May, a local organising committee was formed, now seeking global
participation and co-sponsoship in this event:
Invitation to join the GMO-FREE WORLD SUMMIT ON DIVERSITY
Bonn, 12 - 16 May 2008


Dear Friends on our small planet!
>From 12 - 16 May 2008 representatives of 141 member countries of the
"Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety" under the Rio Convention on
Biodiversity will be meeting in Bonn, Germany. The main issue on
their agenda will be liability and redress from damages caused by
genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Also participating will be
hundreds of delegates from non-member parties, such as the USA,
Canada and Argentina as well as the GMO industry and scientists.
We believe that this is the perfect occasion to hold the world's
first GMO-Free Summit on Diversity. At a recent European conference
of GMO-Free Regions in Brussels 300 delegates from 36 countries and
230 GMO-Free Regions in Europe issued this invitation:
"We  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 freedom from GMOs and patents on
life. Let us also make our message be heard by the representatives of
governments as well as the people of the world."
The local organising committee hosting this event is now seeking
partners from all regions and continents of the globe to prepare and
participate 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.
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 provisional organising Committee:

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)

Contact:

"Save Our Seeds", Foundation on Future Farming
Marienstr.19-20, 10117 Berlin, Germany, Tel +49 30 27590309 Fax +49
30 27590312
Email:  info@gmo-free-regions.org

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