Eucalyptus and Pine Planted Forests:
THE GREEN SOLUTION

History

More than one century ago, the first seedlings of eucalyptus, a native tree from Australia, were planted in Brazil. That was when a successful history started to happen: the Brazilian silviculture was born. The pioneer name is Navarro de Andrade, a technician working at Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro (a railroad company) who, in 1903, brought seedlings from this new species to be planted in Rio Claro, SP. His goal was to find a solution for the production of railroad ties and wood that the railroad construction was demanding.

By that time, only the so called purple earth, covered with forests, were open for agriculture use. The areas where the vegetation was less abundant, savannas and cerrados with gritty soils that were naturally weak in fertilization, were left aside. That is where the eucalyptus was lucky. Even when planted in soil that was considered poor, the eucalyptus trees manifested their vigor surprisingly growing even faster than their Australian ancestors.

That was how several tree nurseries were created in the state. The fronded eucalyptus forests became famous by replacing the rickety trees in the cerrado in São Paulo state.

With the pine species (pinus elliottii and pinus tedae), a similar history occurred. Brought from the USA in 1947, they soon manifested and exceptional performance, getting adapted to the cooler regions in the country, especially Paraná and Santa Catarina.

 

Fiscal Incentives

Until 1965, forestry, in the country, was living its initial stage. During that year, estimative figures indicated 400,000 hectares planted with eucalyptus. From 1966 on, the federal government establishes a strong program of fiscal incentives for reforesting projects, which caused a fast expansion in the activity.

In 20 years, 3,23 million hectares have been planted in the Southern and Southeastern regions, formatting the forestry sector into large corporations that were mainly interested in the wood as their raw material for paper manufacturing, based on the extraction of pulp. Also, an industry of plywood, binders and wood sheets and products for the furniture manufacturers started to thrive./p>

The policy of fiscal incentives, closed in 1986/1987 represented a golden era for the forest plantations. Forestry was, then, separated from agriculture and new schools steered to forest knowledge started to open, strengthening the scientific knowledge and technological researches.

 

The production chain of the planted forest

Pulp, the second basic product from the planted forests, is the fiber extracted from the wood by means of chemical-industrial processes. It is a fundamental raw material for paper manufacturing. The pulp and paper industry consumes 19,3% of forestry raw material, putting into movement several services and manufactures related to printing and graphics (newspapers, books, school notebooks, check books, etc.) packaging (cardboard boxes, cement bags, animal food bags and shopping bags), sanitary papers and special papers.

In addition, from the eucalyptus leaves one extracts the essence, very much used in toiletry products, and the flowers yields excellent

From the araucaria trees, people pick the fruits, pine (pinhão), highly appreciated in the celebrations of June harvesting (Festas Juninas in Brazil).

 

Ecology of the Planted Forests

The planted forests are just like any other agricultural activity developed by Man. Soil cultivation always represents a simplification of the natural ecosystem. In the planted area, whatever the species (food or forest), one substitutes monoculture for diversity.

In the past, the Ecology in Agriculture was not deeply studied. Currently, environment planning and the search for sustainability are influencing forestry research and condition the new plantations to preservation practices. This can be seen, as an example, in the coppices management among the main trees, in the preservation of the riparian woods within the same small watershed, or, still in the geography of the stands and the inner roads that are designed in order to avoid erosion.

Evidence showing the environmental development of the activity may be seen through the studies on birds, which analyze the dynamics of bird reproduction and population. Zuquim Antas e Almeida (2003), in a thorough research on birds as environment balance indicators, hás collected 204 species in the analyzed micro watershed from 1993 to 2004 in Espírito Santo. There are 4 species which are solely found in the eucalyptus planattions: cambucira, coleirinho (charadrius collaris or sporophila caerulescens), tiziu (volatina jacarinia) and piolhinho (phyllomyas fasciatus).

The effect of the eucalyptus plantations in the soil was first studied on the Mediterranean region. Researches mentioned by Paula Lima (1993) conclude that eucalyptus plantations, in general and in time, tend to improve the chemical properties of the soil. Field studies show that, in Aracruz, bean plantations seeded in areas that have been previously occupied with eucalyptus trees for 20 years have had high productivity rates.

Regarding the water consumption in the timber tree stands, studies on the water balance in the watersheds that have taken place In South Africa, Portugal and Australia, mentioned by Paula Lima (1993) lead us to conclude that eucalyptus plantations do not differ from other forest species.

Continuous deforesting is, in fact, the worst evil for water preservation.

The implementation of forests, as long as it is based on sustained management, may help to heal environmental damage. The maintenance of areas with native forests also exerts an important effect.

The pulp and paper mills are responsible for a preserved area comprehending 2,6 million hectares when summing the total permanent preservation areas and the legal reserves, including parks and native reserves and the Natural Patrimony Private Reserves, which are part of the National System of Preservation Units from the Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

Finally, eucalyptus and pine plantations help to reduce the pressure to use native forests as a source of raw material (furniture, civil works and charcoal). Thus, these plantations contribute, indirectly, to defend the Amazons. The larger the availability of planted timber, lesser will be the assault on the Hylean forest.

 

 

Social-economic impact of the forests planted by the sector

The pulp and paper sector, alone, offers 108,000 direct job positions and thousands of indirect employment, either in forestry or in mills through its 220 enterprises. The scheduled investment program foresees the creation of 60,000 new direct job positions until 2012.

Around 45,000 individuals are directly employed in the pulp and paper industry forests. The activity generates indirect employment in several regions in the country for scientists, technicians and other workers.

The multiplying effects of the sector's forestry business are spread along 450 municipalities in 16 states. In taxes, the pulp and paper companies collected US$ 805,4 million in 2004, feeding the public budgets, which allows the supply of services in the fields of health, education and security.

The sector is known for an effective contribution allocating resources - approximately US$ 2,1 billion , each year - to the payment of taxes, salaries and social charges, in addition to investments in environment preservation and health, food, education and professional training for the workers in the communities where the companies are situated.

The pulp and paper enterprises invest considerable resources in projects carried out in the communities near their facilities.

The investments are geared to actions and programs aiming at well-being and social promotion in the communities where they operate, benefiting thousands of children, elderly people, indigenous populations, rural inhabitants and rural partners.

Initiatives in the fields of education and culture, economic development, sports and leisure activities, volunteer work, health and environmental education support, among other, have become feasible thanks not only to the financial support given by the companies in the sector but also thanks to the commitment and strong hand given by a significant share of their collaborators.

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