Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 54


     
     1        is not of the same nature as our own peat land in the
     2        Caithness area. The majority of peat land in Finland had
     3        trees on it in the first place.  What in fact happened was
     4        a managed regime in Finland whereby they drained the peat
     5        land to lower the water table which encouraged improved
     6        forest growth.  On that total 10 million hectares of forest
     7        land which is peat land, 5 million hectares, half the
     8        total, has been drained in that way.  That is the forest
     9        regime that is applied; it is not planting trees where
    10        trees did not exist before.
    11
    12   Q.   But draining the peat land would have an environmental
    13        effect, would it not?
    14        A.  It would improve the forest and, on the whole, with a
    15        less wet land on which biodiversity could flourish, it has
    16        increased the amount of biodiversity.
    17
    18   Q.   I am on page 4 now.  I am trying to move on.  We are coming
    19        to biodiversity a bit later on.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you understand the way Mr. Mallinson has
    22        done the calculation, coming out with areas at the end of
    23        the day, because it is going to be important for me to know
    24        in due course whether his calculation is something I can
    25        accept or whether it is challenged in some way.  If you do
    26        not understand it, there is no shame in saying so and
    27        asking him to work through it.  It will take a bit of time,
    28        but it may be one of the more important areas of issue in
    29        this section of forest and trees.
    30
    31   MR. MORRIS:  I do not understand it.  I did not necessarily see
    32        any benefit for him to go through it, but maybe it would
    33        benefit.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Otherwise I might just accept it and then at
    36        the end of the day wonder why you are arguing, if you are
    37        arguing, that it is wrong, you see.
    38
    39   MR. MORRIS:  I am not sure if I am capable of asking searching
    40        questions on it that would bring out the -----
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What you could do is ask him to go through it
    43        now so that you understand this afternoon the way he has
    44        it.  Then if Mr. Mallinson is coming back, say, on
    45        Wednesday morning, if in the meantime you realised you do
    46        have a challenge to it you can put the challenge to him
    47        then because you do then understand the way he has worked
    48        it out.  Do you see?
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  I think I will do that.  If I can finish off 
    51        page 4 first, so at least I am happy I have moved on from 
    52        that page.  On the subject of -- it is in the middle of the 
    53        page, well, two-thirds of the way down almost, "All notable
    54        timber for packaging and paper comes from managed forests
    55        which are plantation grown." That is not the case in
    56        Canada, though, is it, that the majority of ----
    57        A.  Well, we then come down to questions which you have not
    58        actually asked but which may be relevant, and that is that
    59        I cannot find that the paper mills of the area of
    60        old-growth forest in Western Canada, nor then equally in

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