The Nature Conservation Association of South Iceland (NSS) has criticized the release of GMOs into the region´s biosystem, referring here to ORF´s GM pharma barley crop trials at Gunnarsholt. In an article published in the regional weekly Glugginn, the NSS declares its "deep concerns about this operation and its potential impact on the image of the region and the core industries on which the local economy of the South is based, i.e. agriculture and tourism."

NSS notes that the local population is gradually wakening to the reality that the authorities have given two licences for the release of GMOs in the South, without consultation with the people of the region, without requesting an independent EIA and without studying the impact of the GM plants on wildlife.

NSS warns of the risks associated with gene technology and declares support for demands by South Iceland Farmers´ Union and other organisations for a moratorium on licences for the release of GMOs until independent research has shown without doubt that such organisms are harmless and until a proper public debate has been conducted on the issue.