The Assessing and Monitoring the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AMIGA) project aims, among other objectives, to establish biodiversity baselines, develop indicators for measuring GMO impacts on agro-ecosystems and improve knowledge on potential long-term effects.
6 December 2011: The EU has launched a project to produce scientific data on possible environmental and economic impacts of cultivating genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The project on Assessing and Monitoring the Impacts of GMO Plants on Agro-ecosystems (AMIGA) seeks to: provide baseline data on biodiversity in agro-ecosystems in the EU; define bioindicators suitable for various European regions; better integrate aspects related to specific agricultural ecosystems; improve knowledge on potential long-term effects; and assess the economic effects of cultivation of GMOs through a more systematic analysis.
Activities will include: case studies of GMOs currently approved for cultivation in the EU and surveys in non-GM agro-ecosystems. The final outcome will include a network of representative sites for pre-market risk assessment and long-term monitoring studies.
The project consortium is led by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), and will continue for four years. [EU Press Release]