Day 240 - 24 Apr 96 - Page 33


     
     1   Q.   Is there any environmental ecological advantage of that
     2        over the pastureland?
     3        A.  I would say "Yes" for the following reasons: The first
     4        is that in terms of serious environmental issues like soil
     5        erosion, there is much higher rates ----
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What does this actually do?  We are dealing
     8        with destruction of the -- I recall it rainforest because
     9        that is what is in the leaflet, and the evidence of
    10        Mr. Secrett is if it is destroyed, it will not be
    11        re-established again for literally hundreds of years.
    12
    13   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  So why are we interested in what comes in the
    16        middle?  The allegation is that the rainforest is destroyed
    17        and destroyed it is, according to Mr. Secrett, for several
    18        hundreds years.
    19
    20   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  Our case, and pleaded case, is that
    21        regeneration should be allowed to reoccur and it has,
    22        Mr. Secrett said, immediate environmental advantage within
    23        10 to 20 years, even though it takes ----.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There is nothing in the leaflet about
    26        regeneration.
    27
    28   MS. STEEL:  I think Mr. Cesca was asked a question about
    29        regeneration by Mr. Rampton.
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I daresay he was but it does not mean to say
    32        I will be the least bit interested in his answer.  With
    33        every witness there is an answer comes out and it depends
    34        how full of fight I am feeling as to whether I say I do not
    35        want that or just let it go by and it depends whether the
    36        opponent is feeling full of fight.
    37
    38        If the matter is raised either by me or Mr. Rampton if it
    39        is your witness, or you or Ms. Steel if it is Mr. Rampton's
    40        witness, then we have to decide whether it is relevant or
    41        not regardless of what has happened in the past.  You are
    42        trying to establish that McDonald's are responsible in one
    43        way or other for destruction of the rainforest. You have
    44        got your own witness saying, in effect:  Anyone who is
    45        responsible for clearing the rainforest is responsible for
    46        its destruction for several hundred years.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  I will continue to read?
    49        A.  Your Honour, I wonder if I could make one very brief
    50        comment on something you have just said, which I may have 
    51        misunderstood, which is that the tree species either in the 
    52        pioneer or secondary or primary stage that are associated 
    53        with any particular tropical forest type, whether it is any
    54        of the wet forest types or the dry forest type, would still
    55        be recognised as characteristic of that forest type whether
    56        they are pioneer or secondary or primary.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  I will continue to read:

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