Day 240 - 24 Apr 96 - Page 29
1 Resource. The People, the Threat' Catherine Caulfield,
2 Earthscan. 1982). In Costa Rica, for example, the rate of
3 transformation from forest to pasture has been increasing
4 since 1950. In 1940 some 70 per cent of the country was
5 covered in primary forest; but only 17 per cent remained
6 under primary forest by 1983, and this was mostly in the
7 mountainous areas of the country. Deforestation has been
8 greater in the dry when regions than in the regions..."
9 A. Can I just point something out. There is a word
10 missing there, or a couple of words missing, I cannot
11 remember. Certainly I think it should say "in the central
12 and western regions", and I cannot remember whether
13 I qualified it further by saying "upland and lowland."
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What shall I write into your copy of your
16 statement?
17 A. Your Honour, if you could "in the central and eastern
18 regions".
19
20 Q. Where are you referring to?
21 A. "Deforestation has been greater in the dry and wet
22 western region than in the central and eastern regions".
23 I am sorry about this but there is actually a further
24 qualification. It should be, "Deforestation has been
25 greater in the dry and wet western regions".
26
27 Q. Yes, thank you.
28
29 MR. MORRIS: "Deforestation has been greater in the dry and wet
30 western region than in the central and eastern regions, as
31 the former is comparatively easy to clear and maintain as
32 pastureland by burning. In 1960, only 19 per cent of the
33 country was under permanent pasture, while by 1980 this
34 area had risen to 31 per cent. (UN Food and Agricultural
35 Organisation in Leonard, HJ 1987 'Natural Resources and
36 Economic Development in Central America: A Regional
37 Environmental Profile'. International Institute for
38 Environment and Development and Global Biodiverseity;
39 Status of the Earth's Living Resources, compiled by the
40 World Conservation Monitoring Centre in collaboration with
41 The Natural History Museum London and with the IUCN - The
42 World Conservation Union, United Nations Environment
43 Programme. The Worldwide Fund For Nature and the World
44 Resources Institute).
45
46 4.2. While there are many causes of deforestation in
47 Brazil, including logging, industrial development,
48 settlements and mining, clearance for pasture is similarly
49 a highly significant development pressure. For example, it
50 has been estimated that 72 per cent of all clearance in
51 1980 was for pastureland (Browder, JOB, 1988 'Public Policy
52 and Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon', in ..." Do we
53 really need to read all of that in?
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. You need not read the references unless
56 you particularly want to. I will take them as read.
57
58 MR. MORRIS: Yes:
59
60 "Overall, official figures attribute 38 per cent of all
