Day 158 - 19 Jul 95 - Page 31
1 full paragraph on page 4: "It is also known that world's
2 tropical forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate",
3 etcetera. Then at the bottom of that page, the middle of
4 the second to last paragraph, the sentence starting: "Of
5 all the":
6
7 "Of all the aforementioned development activities, the
8 conversion of tropical forest for agrarian purposes,
9 particularly for cattle ranching, is generally though to be
10 the most pervasive element of destruction of Latin
11 American tropical forests."
12
13 That gets us back to the 30,000 plants. It continues in
14 that vein over on page 6.
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
17
18 MR. MORRIS: Page 6, the first full sentence: "Why encourage
19 large number of colonists to settle in tropical forest
20 areas when the majority of soils are known to be fertile."
21
22 Just to explain that, elsewhere he explains how most of the
23 nutrients in tropical forests are held in the actual plants
24 and forests rather than soil, which is one of the
25 specialities of tropical forests, because the clay levels
26 can often wash away the nutrients in the soil that the
27 plant holds in itself.
28
29 Then he talks, at the end of that large paragraph, about
30 all the serious environmental problems caused by the
31 massive destruction of tropical forests. It may help to
32 look at page 11.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have looked at page 11. You say that in
35 Mr. Shane's terms, anyway, tropical forest and rain forest
36 are interchangeable and, under tropical forest ecosystem,
37 he refers to tropical forest immediately before referring
38 to torrential rainfalls which exceed 4,000 millimetres
39 (which is 160 inches) of precipitation annually.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: Yes. Can I just refer you to the middle paragraph
42 on page 10, starting "A growing number":
43
44 "A growing number of scientists and officials from
45 numerous countries with experience in Latin America
46 expressed a concern that cattle ranching is a principal
47 factor accounting for tropical deforestation throughout the
48 region and based on the empirical analyses of numerous
49 authorities, cattle ranching is widely considered to be
50 most environmentally damaging of all deforestation
51 activities."
52
53 So his concern is clearly with the effect on tropical
54 forests of cattle ranching. That is our concern as well.
55
56 If it is felt that it would be helpful to specify that in
57 our pleading, then we can do that. I do not think it is
58 necessary, especially as our witness statements are
59 explanation of our pleadings, in any event.
60
