Biofuels a risk for wildlife in new habitats: study

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO (Reuters) - Fast-growing foreign crops used as biofuels can disrupt new habitats by ousting local plants and animals, an international report said on Tuesday.

The study, by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), urged governments to do more to assess 32 aggressive species such as giant reeds from West Asia or European poplar trees that can escape beyond biofuel farms and plantations.

"We want to make sure that the risks are properly understood," Stas Burgiel, policy director of GISP, told Reuters. The report was issued to coincide with a May 19-30 U.N. conference on protecting biodiversity in Bonn.

Invasive species can overtake new habitats, causing billions of dollars of damage, if they lack competitors or pests that keep them in check at home.

The study by GISP, which groups scientists around the world, adds to worries about side-effects of biofuels including that they push up food prices or add pressure on farmers to clear forests and other land to produce energy.

Many countries favor biofuels as alternatives to oil, costing more than $125 a barrel, and to curb climate change blamed on greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels.

The report said countries should be wary of the West Asian giant reed arundo donax, for instance, which is being introduced as a biofuel to the United States. "Naturally flammable, it increases the likelihood of wildfires -- a threat to both humans and native species in places such as California," it said.

The American mesquite tree, under consideration for biofuel production, is known as the "Devil's Tree" in Ethiopia because it has taken over larger than expected areas since it was introduced in the 1970s as a drought-resistant species.