Day 284 - 22 Oct 96 - Page 36


     
     1        But in some ways the whole argument is, we feel, a bit
     2        artificial because, as I have said, the concern is the
     3        damage it does to the environment and that should be the
     4        overwhelming concern because whether or not something is
     5        strictly rainforest or not we would still pray in aid any
     6        damage to the environment done by the cattle ranching
     7        industry in Central and Latin America.  Can we have a break
     8        there?
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  I will say 5 to 3.  If a minute or two
    11        more is needed to get the VDU straight, let me know.
    12
    13                         (Short Adjournment)
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:   The last thing....  Well, the other thing I want
    16        to say is that hoof prints on the forest, which presumably
    17        one refers to the major documents to raise this kind of
    18        concern, does not distinguish between rainforest and
    19        tropical forest, so far as I can see.  So I think the
    20        references to their definitions of rainforest, Charles
    21        Secrett is Day 240, pages 24 to 28.  And John Carrier, Day
    22        242, page 16, line 46 onwards, and page 17, line 28
    23        onwards.  And of course the others, George Monbiot dealt
    24        with this.  I can't remember with Dr. Nations.  As far as
    25        I can remember, he did not distinguish between the two
    26        either.  And as we have heard in this case, these are
    27        effectively McDonald's witnesses as well as their own.
    28
    29        And one further reflection on this is in terms of the
    30        credibility of McDonald's in determining their rainforest
    31        policy and what area of territory that related to, if
    32        indeed it is a coherent policy at all, is that Mr. Cesca
    33        said that he drafted up policy and flew over the Amazon in
    34        a plane to chart what he thought where the rainforest ended
    35        and everything else started.
    36
    37        And he admitted not being an expert, and I would have
    38        thought if McDonald's were serious about having a policy on
    39        such a subject, they would have called in independent
    40        experts to define the area of concern as regards
    41        environmental damage that cattle ranching might do and will
    42        do.
    43
    44        I think that is a significant failure by McDonald's to take
    45        what they are saying seriously or deliberately, as we would
    46        say, it was deliberately trying to minimise the area of
    47        concern in order to enable them to continue to make their
    48        profits out of environmental damage.  Further on that, he
    49        did not identify what time of year he flew over the forest,
    50        I do not think.  That might have an effect. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well, does it?   Is there any evidence to 
    53        that effect?
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:   The point is that some forest is seasonal.  There
    56        is nothing wrong with that.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Was there any evidence on this topic?  I
    59        cannot speculate about it, can I?   You may be right that
    60        there was, but I do not recall it at the moment.  There was

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