Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 27


     
     1
     2   Q.   So, in effect, the management of British forests has
     3        overall resulted in the depletion of ancient woodlands and
     4        the growth of coniferous plantations, would that be a fair
     5        summary?
     6        A.  No.  The latter part of your statement would be
     7        correct; the former I am not sure that that could be
     8        accepted, no.  In effect, the development of our forests in
     9        England, in particular, has been in much more recent times,
    10        and that has been with coniferous and broadleaf planting.
    11        In recent years, there has been considerably greater
    12        proportion of broadleaf planting than there has been of
    13        coniferous planting in England -- in Scotland, the
    14        proportion has been the other way, more coniferous than
    15        broadleafed -- but, practically, all that planting has been
    16        on new land planting rather than taking out ancient forest.
    17
    18   Q.   What percentage of plantations in the UK since the Second
    19        World War -- established since the Second World War -- are
    20        coniferous?
    21        A.  That is a figure I would have to refer to.
    22
    23   Q.   Just approximately -- are we talking about seven per cent,
    24        95 per cent?
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you have a figure to put?
    27
    28   MR. MORRIS:  I do not have a figure, no, but are we talking
    29        about the vast majority?
    30        A.  No, we are not talking about the vast majority; it
    31        depends where we begin.  I do not have figures that go back
    32        to immediately after the Second World War nor back to after
    33        the First World War.  But, certainly, the proportion of
    34        planting on new land in coniferous forest has been far
    35        greater than that of broadleafed in Scotland.  In England,
    36        it is probable that the planting of broadleaf trees in
    37        recent years which has predominated, rather than coniferous
    38        trees, may have reached the point where more broadleaf
    39        planting has taken place since the Second World War than
    40        coniferous planting in England, but that I would need to
    41        check.
    42
    43   Q.   When you say "recent years" what are we talking about?
    44        A.  I am talking about the last 10, yes, about the last 10
    45        years.
    46
    47   Q.   So there has been a drift in England to less coniferous
    48        plantations and more broadleafed ---
    49        A.  Very considerably.
    50 
    51   Q.   -- plantations? 
    52        A.  Very considerably. 
    53
    54   Q.   Why is that?  Have there been concerns about environmental
    55        issues?
    56        A.  Yes, I think the concerns of an environmental nature
    57        that we have been talking about earlier have made people
    58        wish to see, certainly in England, multipurpose forest
    59        rather than entirely economic forest, and the incentive
    60        provided through Forestry Authority grants have actually

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