Day 095 - 02 Mar 95 - Page 67
1
2 Q. You have not checked?
3 A. No. I do not know. Basically, what I have seen is
4 when you, for instance, fly from -- I did not really go
5 through he Venezuela scheduled trip -- fly over the Amazon
6 you can see the Amazon fires through different areas. I do
7 not know in the past what happened before I joined
8 McDonald's. That one I do not know.
9
10 Q. But when you are trying to ensure that Coope Montecillos
11 comply with your claimed policy of not using ex-rainforest
12 land or recently deforested ex-rainforest land whatever, it
13 would help you to know where that ex-rainforest land
14 actually was, would it not?
15 A. In what sense?
16
17 Q. Well, if the company -----
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I really think you have to ask him if he
20 knows at this stage in the day.
21
22 MR. MORRIS: So you do not know what part of say, for example,
23 the dense forest may have been in fact originally all
24 rainforest?
25 A. I have seen -- no, originally I do not know.
26
27 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, surely the right question, if it is a
28 question for this witness at all, is whether he knows
29 whether those two red blobs at the top or the three red
30 blobs were ever rainforest.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He may not be suggesting they are. I think
33 what Mr. Morris was hoping was that at some stage the
34 rainforest extended down to the red Amazon frontier line?
35 A. OK, that one, no. That one I know.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: How do you know that?
38 A. Because I had discussions with that. You can see the
39 environment will not allow that. If you are in this area
40 you could never guess it is a rainforest. You will never
41 guess it. We have no control over that. Nature will not
42 support the rainforest in that area.
43
44 Q. But if something like 50 per cent or something of the
45 Amazon has been deforested or 40 per cent, whatever it is,
46 I have not got the figures in front of me, then that
47 deforestation must have taken place somewhere?
48 A. No. You have the wrong numbers. If you have 50 per
49 cent in two years it will be gone. The rainforest is still
50 there.
51
52 Q. I am talking about over the last century.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There are no more questions. Thank you,
55 Dr. Gomez Gonzalez.
56
57 (The witness withdrew).
58
59 MR. MORRIS: I am aware that you have to go, but is it possible
60 to set aside an hour tomorrow morning or something for
