Day 240 - 24 Apr 96 - Page 33
1 Q. Is there any environmental ecological advantage of that
2 over the pastureland?
3 A. I would say "Yes" for the following reasons: The first
4 is that in terms of serious environmental issues like soil
5 erosion, there is much higher rates ----
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What does this actually do? We are dealing
8 with destruction of the -- I recall it rainforest because
9 that is what is in the leaflet, and the evidence of
10 Mr. Secrett is if it is destroyed, it will not be
11 re-established again for literally hundreds of years.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So why are we interested in what comes in the
16 middle? The allegation is that the rainforest is destroyed
17 and destroyed it is, according to Mr. Secrett, for several
18 hundreds years.
19
20 MR. MORRIS: Yes. Our case, and pleaded case, is that
21 regeneration should be allowed to reoccur and it has,
22 Mr. Secrett said, immediate environmental advantage within
23 10 to 20 years, even though it takes ----.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is nothing in the leaflet about
26 regeneration.
27
28 MS. STEEL: I think Mr. Cesca was asked a question about
29 regeneration by Mr. Rampton.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I daresay he was but it does not mean to say
32 I will be the least bit interested in his answer. With
33 every witness there is an answer comes out and it depends
34 how full of fight I am feeling as to whether I say I do not
35 want that or just let it go by and it depends whether the
36 opponent is feeling full of fight.
37
38 If the matter is raised either by me or Mr. Rampton if it
39 is your witness, or you or Ms. Steel if it is Mr. Rampton's
40 witness, then we have to decide whether it is relevant or
41 not regardless of what has happened in the past. You are
42 trying to establish that McDonald's are responsible in one
43 way or other for destruction of the rainforest. You have
44 got your own witness saying, in effect: Anyone who is
45 responsible for clearing the rainforest is responsible for
46 its destruction for several hundred years.
47
48 MR. MORRIS: I will continue to read?
49 A. Your Honour, I wonder if I could make one very brief
50 comment on something you have just said, which I may have
51 misunderstood, which is that the tree species either in the
52 pioneer or secondary or primary stage that are associated
53 with any particular tropical forest type, whether it is any
54 of the wet forest types or the dry forest type, would still
55 be recognised as characteristic of that forest type whether
56 they are pioneer or secondary or primary.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
59
60 MR. MORRIS: I will continue to read:
