Day 058 - 30 Nov 94 - Page 46
1 A. There is no question, but bearing in mind the huge
2 proportion of Finland that is under forestry, it is hardly
3 surprising that if there was any change in the biological
4 balance of the flora and fauna in that country, that it
5 would be in the forest.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think what you are saying is that there
8 maybe a problem enough in Finland, but there is less of a
9 problem in Finland which is largely forested than there is
10 in other countries which are much less forested?
11 A. If you take it that this country has 71 per cent of its
12 land area in agriculture, the problems of biodiversity on
13 agricultural land seem to me rather greater than that on
14 forest land, my Lord.
15
16 MR. MORRIS: If I can move on, I believe, to page 14, Wildlife:
17 Just before we move on to that page 14, your reference EE
18 -- I do not know why it is EE -- it is the orange bundle.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Orange bundle?
21
22 MR. MORRIS: 3B, Mr. Mallinson's references.
23
24 THE WITNESS: Is it the one entitled "A Richer forest"?
25
26 Q. Yes.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Both of mine have just "3" on; one has
29 "Mr. Mallinson and Mr. Bateman" on the front and the other
30 just has "Mr. Mallinson".
31
32 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, it is subheaded "T. Mallinson (W to JJ)"; the
33 reference is "EE", I think.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you. Which tab, Mr. Morris?
36
37 MR. MORRIS: "EE". Have we all got the same document? It is
38 the first paragraph, it is regarding Sweden, "A Richer
39 Forest". Is that a similar campaign to the "Forest
40 Forever" kind of thing, equivalent?
41 A. My Lord, as far as I am aware, "A Richer Forest" in the
42 third paragraph here states that its aim was "to bring
43 together 80,000 forest owners, workers and contractors in
44 study circles and short courses". It is partly educational
45 bearing in mind the very high proportion of Swedish forest
46 (and the same applies in Finnish forest) that is owned by
47 small farmers with an average of around about 30 hectares
48 of forest ownership for each one, so this is a process of
49 bringing about something rather than establishing a new
50 position.
51
52 Q. Who is this published by, this actual document, is it the
53 National Board of Forestry at the bottom?
54 A. That is what it states.
55
56 Q. That is a government body, is it?
57 A. Very much so; it is a government body which is working
58 in and among the forest owners of the country.
59
60 Q. In the first paragraph, the fourth sentence starts: "We
