Day 058 - 30 Nov 94 - Page 54


     
     1        table?
     2        A.  Coniferous trees with their pine needles are attracting
     3        carbon from the atmosphere.  They are attracting the
     4        acidification from pollution.  There is a chemical change
     5        which tends to happen in the soil after the water reaches
     6        the ground which can, by chemical change, produce a high
     7        alumina content and if that gets into waters which are
     8        already almost acid it can bring the water level of acidity
     9        to a point where the fish can no longer survive.  A great
    10        deal of scientific work has been done in combination with
    11        various research organisations to establish the areas where
    12        this is a danger, and where that area has been defined as
    13        having high acidity no longer are trees planted anywhere
    14        near to the water courses.  That is all in the forest
    15        guidelines which are amongst the submissions in our
    16        evidence.
    17
    18   Q.   Just to refresh my memory, which year did they become
    19        guidelines?
    20        A.  It is a continuing process.  In fact, there is a
    21        celebrated case which has been going on for some time of
    22        appeal on area called Halidale where for the last two years
    23        research has been going on in detail to show that only one
    24        small corner of a very large area which was previously to
    25        be stopped from all forestry was in any way likely to
    26        effect the water courses and the levels of acidity.
    27
    28   Q.   Above safe levels?
    29        A.  Above the safe levels.
    30
    31   Q.   But it may be contributing to increasing the background
    32        acidity level in water?
    33        A.  That, Mr. Morris, to some extent is true, but this has
    34        been studied in broad and detailed scientific concern and
    35        in fact what will happen now is the planting will proceed
    36        in this area and the monitoring will continue.  This is
    37        being financed by the Forestry Commission, the National
    38        Rivers Authority and the Countryside Commission.
    39
    40   Q.   In your paragraph in the middle of the page, page 16, the
    41        concern about acidification, effects on fish populations,
    42        is it a fact that there has been a great deal of
    43        controversy in the USA from anglers protesting about the
    44        effects on salmon stocks plummeting in the USA and Canada
    45        in fact due to clear felling?
    46        A.  Due to clear felling?
    47
    48   Q.   Yes.  Maybe I have got it wrong.  Is it due to clear
    49        felling or is it due to the conifer plantations?
    50        A.  As far as I am aware, the problems in the West Coast in 
    51        relation to the fisheries issues are to do with the 
    52        extraction methods and felling and not to do with 
    53        scavenging.  In fact, I find very few references to
    54        scavenging in that part of the world as being the cause of
    55        loss of fish.
    56
    57   Q.   So that would be the clear felling of natural forests?
    58        A.  It could well be that the controversial areas,
    59        certainly the ones that become reported are those in
    60        natural forest.  There have been cases of this and there

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