Day 239 - 23 Apr 96 - Page 13

     
     1        environmental issue.  Basically, trees, when you take the
     2        water out of them, more of less stink of carbon.  When they
     3        are burnt, they turn into carbon dioxide which is, as we
     4        know, a contributory to the greenhouse effect.  The more
     5        trees there are, the more carbondioxide is removed from the
     6        atmosphere.  The fewer trees there are, the more
     7        carbondioxide remains in the atmosphere or is contributed
     8        to it.
     9
    10   Q.   Thank you.  Point 2:
    11
    12        McDonald's use of this land means that is not available to
    13        other users, be they small farmers or other ranchers.  This
    14        is likely to result in the clearance of further rainforest
    15        by these people.
    16
    17        3.  McDonald's tenure of this land is likely to have
    18        contributed to the continued imbalance in landownership
    19        prevailing in all Central and South American nations."
    20
         When you make these comments, when you say "all Central and
    22        South American nations", does this apply to Brazil?
    23        A.   Certainly that statement as a general statement is
    24        very applicable to Brazil which has a particularly schemed
    25        land distribution of about 1 percent owning something like
    26        49 percent of the land.
    27
    28   Q.   So this whole statement does not apply to Brazil?
    29        A.   The whole statement, as I see it, yes, indeed, is of
    30        relevance to Brazil.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have read it all as relating to Brazil and
    33        Brazil alone.  You may have some general comment that
    34        trends may be the same in other countries but, as far as I
    35        am concerned, Mr. Monbiot puts himself forward, or you do
    36        as an expert on Brazil, and that is what his statement is
    37        concerned with.
    38
    39   MR. MORRIS:  Can you say something here about the use of the
    40        word "rainforest"?
         A.  Yes.  Rainforest ----
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   No, I am not going to hear this.  It is not
    44        admissible.  I will modify that. I will hear it if you are
    45        explaining what Mr. Monbiot means "rainforest" when he
    46        refers to it, but Mr. Monbiot cannot give admissible
    47        evidence of what "rainforest" means in the leaflet.  We
    48        have had it before.  Bear the distinction in mind.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  No. I was meaning what he means. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes. 
    53        A.   I use "rainforest" here in the poplar sense and I
    54        would not maintain that it only has a popular sense.  It is
    55        not a scientifically recognised term but it is understood
    56        by people in most parts of the world, I would maintain, as
    57        "the green belt around the tropics", so it is a generally
    58        moist, generally dense forest which goes around the
    59        tropics.
    60