Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 27
1
2 Q. So, in effect, the management of British forests has
3 overall resulted in the depletion of ancient woodlands and
4 the growth of coniferous plantations, would that be a fair
5 summary?
6 A. No. The latter part of your statement would be
7 correct; the former I am not sure that that could be
8 accepted, no. In effect, the development of our forests in
9 England, in particular, has been in much more recent times,
10 and that has been with coniferous and broadleaf planting.
11 In recent years, there has been considerably greater
12 proportion of broadleaf planting than there has been of
13 coniferous planting in England -- in Scotland, the
14 proportion has been the other way, more coniferous than
15 broadleafed -- but, practically, all that planting has been
16 on new land planting rather than taking out ancient forest.
17
18 Q. What percentage of plantations in the UK since the Second
19 World War -- established since the Second World War -- are
20 coniferous?
21 A. That is a figure I would have to refer to.
22
23 Q. Just approximately -- are we talking about seven per cent,
24 95 per cent?
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26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you have a figure to put?
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28 MR. MORRIS: I do not have a figure, no, but are we talking
29 about the vast majority?
30 A. No, we are not talking about the vast majority; it
31 depends where we begin. I do not have figures that go back
32 to immediately after the Second World War nor back to after
33 the First World War. But, certainly, the proportion of
34 planting on new land in coniferous forest has been far
35 greater than that of broadleafed in Scotland. In England,
36 it is probable that the planting of broadleaf trees in
37 recent years which has predominated, rather than coniferous
38 trees, may have reached the point where more broadleaf
39 planting has taken place since the Second World War than
40 coniferous planting in England, but that I would need to
41 check.
42
43 Q. When you say "recent years" what are we talking about?
44 A. I am talking about the last 10, yes, about the last 10
45 years.
46
47 Q. So there has been a drift in England to less coniferous
48 plantations and more broadleafed ---
49 A. Very considerably.
50
51 Q. -- plantations?
52 A. Very considerably.
53
54 Q. Why is that? Have there been concerns about environmental
55 issues?
56 A. Yes, I think the concerns of an environmental nature
57 that we have been talking about earlier have made people
58 wish to see, certainly in England, multipurpose forest
59 rather than entirely economic forest, and the incentive
60 provided through Forestry Authority grants have actually
