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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
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Science Debunks
Romanticism
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Those who
value science-based conservation measures should take heart. Despite the
presence of a myriad of new age liberal dreamers, logic and rational thinking
are alive and well. This was demonstrated in a recent meeting in Washington,
DC, where Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr. Norman Borlaug commented on the
growing danger to the environment of dependence on so-called organic foods. If
the world stopped using modern agricultural techniques, including genetically
modified food crops, said Borlaug, then yields would be so low that the world's
remaining forests would have to be sacrificed in order to provide more land for
agricultural crops.
This announcement was made at a press conference called by the Center for
Global Food Issues, and was first reported upon by Marc Morano, CNSNews.com
Senior Staff Writer. Organic farming is defined as agriculture without the use
of synthetic chemicals, and the yields are about 50% below those of crops grown
with modern fertilizers and pesticides. Organically grown crops are expensive,
and make up only about 3% of the food produced in the US. Conference
participants noted that people in poor nations will continue to suffer unless
modern agricultural techniques, including genetically modified crops, are added
to enhance the world's food supplies.
Recently, many genetically modified crops have been formed to thrive without
the use of pesticides and herbicides, a development that would be an aid to
conservation for several reasons; fewer non-target wildlife, plants, and
insects would be harmed than are now devastated by pesticides and herbicides,
and the yields from these crops would thus be increased at less cost to the
environment. People would no longer have to worry about pesticide residues in
their food.
These two concepts - the elimination of the use of pesticides and
herbicides, and the increasing use of genetically modified crops to enhance
yield and promote conservation, would make the world safer and the world's
farmers more productive, according to Dr. Borlaug and another program
participant, former Greenpeace director Dr. Patrick Moore. Dr.Moore left
Greenpeace and now criticizes "green" groups for their unrealistic
approach to problems of world forestry, agriculture, and future food supplies.
Drs. Moore and Borlaug stressed that the world's forests can be saved by
using the above modern agricultural techniques, which shall preclude the
clearing of more forested land. They also stressed that the use of wood for
building materials is preferable to the use of concrete and steel, which
require more fossil fuels in the manufacture of those materials, thus adding to
the CO2 emissions of world industry. According to Dr. Moore, the use of wood
stimulates the planting of more trees, and encourages private property owners
to keep their forests healthy and productive, instead of clearing that land for
other crops.
The press conference announced a "Declaration in Support of Protecting
Nature with High-Yield Farming and Forestry". IWMC proudly endorses this
concept and believes conservation and global food security shall both benefit
from these modern advances. 
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