Day 058 - 30 Nov 94 - Page 55


     
     1        will continue to be cases of this, but now as a consequence
     2        of those cases the laws have been both tightened and the
     3        regulations applied by the companies themselves have been
     4        changed to avoid the practices that allow them to lead to
     5        that kind of damage.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is silting?
     8        A.  That is silting.  It is not a scavenging situation.  It
     9        is usually a silting situation.
    10
    11   MR. MORRIS:  Which comes from soil erosion?
    12        A.  It comes from soil erosion and, secondly, it is short
    13        term, but that sort term can affect a whole season's
    14        fishing.
    15
    16   Q.   Going on to public access and recreation, do you know what
    17        percentage or approximate percentage of commercial forests
    18        of the type we are concerned with in the case particularly
    19        are accessible to the public, freely accessible to the
    20        public?
    21        A.  Are we talking about the United Kingdom?
    22
    23   Q.   Yes, sorry, the United Kingdom.
    24        A.  Just over half the total forest of this country is
    25        privately owned.  The proportions of the privately owned
    26        forest which are open to the public I do not have a figure
    27        on.  In regard to all the Forest Enterprise which all of us
    28        own, which represents some 46 per cent of the total forest
    29        area, all of it, except in very limited areas whereby in
    30        the nature of the lease which applies the Forestry
    31        Commission were not entitled to allow people access, all of
    32        that property is open to the public.
    33
    34   Q.   Would it be fair to say that private land, private forests,
    35        only a tiny percentage are accessible to the public?
    36        A.  Again, I have no absolute answer to that question.  All
    37        one can say is that a lot of land which is not owned by the
    38        state is owned by county councils, it is owned by other
    39        public authorities including the RSPB which own very
    40        substantial areas, and there most certainly the RSPB do not
    41        allow the public access.  But in other regions you will
    42        find that enlightened owners have opened their forests more
    43        to public access than they have opened their farmland.
    44
    45   Q.   What presumably the RSPB has bought special forest to
    46        safeguard wildlife?
    47        A.  Absolutely right.
    48
    49   Q.   Do you know what percentage approximately of privately
    50        managed forests, as opposed publicly managed forests, would 
    51        be supplying McDonald's, say, in this country? 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you answer that question?
    54        A.  It is a very specific question.  One can only say that
    55        of the total supply of timber from our forest lands, and
    56        that is the whole of the GB, over 66 per cent comes from
    57        state owned forest and the smaller proportion comes from
    58        privately owned forest.  Timber growing is an industry and
    59        a proportion of their product, particularly their
    60        thinnings, would certainly be going to pulp mills, but what

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