Editorial
Dear friends,
Good morning, my dear Eucalyptus friends. Here we
are again, with the 15th issue of our Eucalyptus Newsletter. In this
edition, we are again bringing a lot of information and knowledge about
these wonderful trees and their utilization. Remember that most of
this information is brought to you for your better understanding about
the Eucalyptus. I hope you may, like me, also admire these trees and
the products they offer to Society.
In this edition of the Eucalyptus
Newsletter we are introducing to you some more chapters of our Eucalyptus
Online Book, both with focus
on the efficiencies and inefficiencies at our Eucalyptus pulp and paper
mills.
As
an inhabitant of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, I'm seeing
with a great enthusiasm the growth
of the plantation
forestry
and forest-based
industry is happening in the region. For this reason, I'm bringing
back the section "The World of the Eucalyptus -
State of Rio Grande do Sul". I hope you may also get enthusiastic about the tremendous
growth of the plantation forestry in this Brazilian state.
In
the Ester Foelkel's section about "Curiosities
and Oddities about the Eucalyptus" she is telling us about the "Production
of Bonsais" from Eucalyptus, an interesting and curious activity.
In the section "The
Friends of the Eucalyptus",
I'm telling to you the professional life and the career of a young
Galician, Mr. Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Gus, as he likes to be called, is a dedicated
friend of the Eucalyptus, having created an Internet blog to honor
them. Moreover, Gus has his professional life completely linked to
the Eucalyptus. He acts as a consultant in the Iberia countries, doing
his best to promote the better utilization of these trees to several
purposes, including those ornamentals. I'm very honored to have the
opportunity to introduce him to you in this issue of the Eucalyptus
Newsletter.
I'm also creating a quick section to
appear in two editions of the Eucalyptus Newsletter. It is related
to the so called "Myths
and Facts about the Eucalyptus". The intent is to offer to you
the chance to read available articles both about the myths and about
the
facts and realities. In this issue, I'm suggesting articles and speeches
written by people opposing the Eucalyptus. They may have their reasons
for doing this, then it is wise to hear them. About the facts and realities,
based on the best science, I'm frequently writing in the mini-articles
on these Eucalyptus Newsletters. I hope you are reading them. By the
way, I'm continuing writing about this theme in this present newsletter.
The today's article is titled "The Eucalyptus Plantation Forestry
and the Environment". My purpose is to offer to readers, in a
simple format, the main impacts and risks when planting Eucalyptus forests, and also the main benefits. In case of negative potential
impacts, it is important to the tree planter to take the already known
measures to mitigate these impacts to minimize the risks of environmental
and social harms and damages.
As
we are used to do, in this newsletter issue, we are bringing a lot
of interesting subjects about the Eucalyptus. The
purpose is to offer knowledge in a way that you may learn more, and
to enjoy doing such.
For this, we are forcing you, in some extent, to navigate the web
to grab as much on good information as possible. We also offer good
articles,
and recommendations of books and interesting events.
In
case you are not registered yet to receive free-of-charge the Eucalyptus
Newsletter and the chapters of the Eucalyptus Online Book,
I suggest
you to do it through the following link: Click
here for registration.
We
have now several non-financial supporting partners to the Eucalyptus
Online Book & Newsletter: TAPPI, IPEF, SIF, CeluloseOnline,
CETCEP/SENAI, RIADICYP, TECNICELPA, ATCP Chile, Appita, CENPAPEL, TAPPSA,
SBS, ANAVE,
AGEFLOR, EMBRAPA FLORESTAS and GIT - Eucalyptologics. They are helping
to disseminate our efforts in favor of the Eucalyptus in countries
such as: Brazil, USA, Chile, Portugal, Spain, Colombia, Argentina,
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. However, thanks to the world
wide web, in reality they are helping to promote our project to the
entire world. Thanks very much to our partners for believing in what
we are doing.
Know more about all of our today’s
partners at the URL address:
http://www.eucalyptus.com.br/partners.html
Thanks again for the support
to our work. We have just now reached the 7,000 registered people receiving
these online publications about
the Eucalyptus. Even so, I beg your help to inform about and to promote
our project to your friends, in case you feel these publications may
be helpful to them. Please, accept my personal thanks, and also the
gratitude from CELSIUS DEGREE, ABTCP,
BOTNIA, ARACRUZ, INTERNATIONAL PAPER DO BRASIL, CONESTOGA-ROVERS & ASSOCIATES
, SUZANO, VCP and
from the supporting partners.
Our best wishes to all of you, and please
enjoy your reading.
Celso Foelkel
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br
http://www.eucalyptus.com.br
http://www.abtcp.org.br
In
this edition
Eucalyptus
Online Book Chapter 6 (in English)
Eucalyptus
Online Book Chapter 10 (in Portuguese)
The
World of the Eucalyptus - State of Rio Grande
do Sul, Brazil
Eucalyptus:
Doubts, Creeds, Myths, Facts and Realities - Part 01: The
opinion of the "contrary interested parties"
Curiosities
and Oddities about the Eucalyptus: The Eucalyptus being
used to the Production of Bonsais (by Ester Foelkel)
The
Friends of the Eucalyptus - Mr. Gustavo Iglesias
Trabado
Online
Technical References
References
on Events and Courses
Euca-Links
Technical
Mini-Article by Celso Foelkel
The Eucalyptus Plantation
Forests and the Environment
Eucalyptus
Online Book Chapter 6 (in English)
For downloading
the chapter (in Adobe pdf - 9.2 MB) just click the name of the chapter.
In case you do not have the Adobe Reader installed in your computer,
please visit http://www.eucalyptus.com.br/available.html and find the
instructions how to get it.
"Eco-efficiency
in managing the pulp fiber losses and the broke generated in paper
manufacturing"
Eucalyptus
Online Book Chapter 10 (in Portuguese)
For downloading
the chapter (in Adobe pdf - 21.3 MB) just click the name of the chapter.
In case you do not have the Adobe Reader installed in your computer,
please visit http://www.eucalyptus.com.br/available.html and
find the instructions how to get it.
"Oportunidades
para ecoeficacia, ecoeficiencia e producao mais limpa na fabricacao
de celulose kraft de eucalipto"
The
World of the Eucalyptus
State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
The
state of Rio Grande do Sul is the Southernmost state in Brazil,
having borders with Uruguay and Argentina. Its location allows
to have different seasons along the year, with green and blossoming
Springs, hot and cheerful Summers, and cold Winters, plenty of
the traditional gaucha rich food. Gaucho is the nickname given
to the people of Rio Grande do Sul.
The
RS, as we are to mention the name of the state from now onwards,
has a wide territorial area with forestry potential. The global state
area is 282 thousand square kilometers, a combination of prairies,
uplands, and mountains
(http://webcarta.net/carta/geo.php?r=84&lg=pt).
In a great percentage of this region we have wide areas of man-made
pastures and natural grasslands; in others we may find Atlantic Natural
Forest remainders; in others a high quality agriculture; and also an
important area planted with Eucalyptus, Pinus and Acacia
mearnsii (black
wattle) forests by the man. It is estimated that by now the area covered
by plantation forests in RS is about 450,000 hectares. This represents
1.6% of the state geographical territorial area. In comparison to Brazil,
RS holds 8.3% of the total planted forests area of the country. The
most frequently planted forest species are Acacia mearnsii and Pinus
taeda. Following them, a variety of Eucalyptus species: Eucalyptus
grandis, E.saligna, E.dunnii, E.viminalis, E.tereticornis, E.paniculata,
E.robusta, Corymbia citriodora and more recently, the hybrid E.urograndis.
Moreover, RS is the sole Brazilian state able to house high quality
plantations of E.globulus globulus and E.globulus maidenni, due to
its appropriate weather. There are today some few thousands of hectares
planted with these two E.globulus sub-species.
When
someone tells the history of the Eucalyptus in Brazil, RS has an
outstanding position. It is considered to be one of the routes of
entrance of the first Eucalyptus trees into the country. Probably,
the species was E.globulus originated from Uruguay and the time was
late 1800's. We may even find in the city of Rio Grande a very old
and centennial tree of Eucalyptus in one of the city squares. Because
of this fact, this tree is considered to be a tourist attraction
in the city. Another wonderful tree species that is native in the
Rio Grande do Sul mountains is Araucaria angustifolia, the Brazilian
Conifer: its beauty adorns the Gaucha Mountains and the seeds ("pinhoes")
fill the meals of the native people during the winter time.
The
added value by the planted forests in RS is very impressive, and
it is now in an accelerated process of expansion. The state wood-based
industry is very competitive, mainly the production of wood panels,
furniture, and pulp and paper. This network generates at moment about
200 to 250 thousand job positions and it is also growing impressively.
The development program Forest Industry RS has the goal to promote
the forest plantations and associated industry in the state. The
goal is to reach one million hectares of plantation forests (3.5%
of the state territorial area). This growth is being oriented to
the Central and South regions of the state. To support this growth
the entrepreneurs are basing their foundations on competitiveness
and cooperation among business companies, state government and rural
farmers. The aim is to develop competitive forestry clusters as the
major driver to this expansion. There is the estimate of investments
in the range of 5 billion American dollars in the next couple of
years. New pulp and wood panel mills are being built or expanding
capacities: Aracruz Celulose, Votorantim Celulose e Papel, Stora
Enso, Fibraplac, Masisa, Satipel, etc. We are not mentioning here
the great growth also expected in the furniture and lumber associated
industries.
The
foundations of the Forest Industry RS plan are the following:
• creation of forest clusters having "anchor
businesses" to be the growth drivers,
• Local and regional productive arrangements,
• Multiple utilization of the forest plantations,
• Plantation incentives to the rural farmers,
• Agroforestry development,
• Zoning of the agricultural state area to orient forest plantations
to the most suitable areas,
• Environmental impact assessment studies to the wider areas being planted,
• Forest chain sustainability as a main target,
• Promotion to the development of the following forest-based segments:
furniture, saw-timber, lumber, panels (medium density fiberboard, oriented
strand board, particle board), pulp and paper, tannin and resin chemicals,
poles, charcoal, biomass fuel, forest residues utilization, biorefineries,
etc.
In
short, the program is ambitious, but well-fundamented and having
the support of the main state drivers. The interested parties are
committed and the dialogue with Society is opening room for program
optimizations.
In order to offer to you the opportunity to know more about the state
of Rio Grande do Sul and its enormous potential as one of the most
important regions where the Eucalyptus may grow, we have selected
several websites for your navigation. Our purpose is not to be exhaustive.
This selection also brings to you the chance to find other links
when visiting the sites and literature being indicated. Unfortunately,
to those not used to the Portuguese language, most of the references
are in this idiom.
Business associations linked to the forest-based industry in the
state of RS
AGEFLOR
- Gaucha Association of Forest Companies
http://www.ageflor.com.br
AFUBRA - Association of the Tobacco Planters in Brazil
http://www.afubra.com.br/principal.php
MOVERGS RS - Association of the Furniture Industry in the
State of RS
http://www.movergs.com.br
SINDIMADEIRA - RS ("Wood Coalition in RS")
http://www.sindimadeira.org.br
SINPASUL - Business Federation of the Pulp, Paper and Cork Industry
in RS
http://www.sinpasul.org.br
Educational,
Forestry Colleges and R&D Institutes
CEPEF - Center of Forestry Research
http://www.ufsm.br/cepef/index_2.html
CETEMO - Technological Center for the Furniture
http://www.cetemo.com.br
Junior Forest Company (Federal University of Santa Maria)
http://br.geocities.com/florestajr/indexvelho.html
http://www.wix.com/joabel/florestajr (To
access you need to have the Adobe Flash Player version 9,0,124,0 or higher)
UFSM - Federal University of Santa Maria - Forest Engineering
and Forest Sciences
http://www.ufsm.br/dcfl (Campus
de Santa Maria)
http://www.cesnors.ufsm.br/graduacao/engenharia-florestal (Campus
CESNORS de Frederico Westphalen)
http://www.ufsm.br/cepef/florestajunior.html (UFSM
Junior Forest Company - it is present also at the UFSM website)
http://w3.ufsm.br/daef (UFSM
Forest Student Association)
Websites
of the most relevant forest-based industries in the RS state (forestry,
furniture, pulp and paper, wood panel and saw-timber)
Aracruz
Celulose S/A (Pulp
and paper)
http://www.aracruz.com.br
http://www.al.rs.gov.br/Download/CED/Projeto_Aracruz.pdf (Presentation
of the Aracruz expansion project in RS)
http://www.aracruz.com.br/show_press.do?menu=false&id=1490&act=stcNews&lastRoot=296&lang=1 (Have
a look to the movie "Expansao Guaiba")
Cambara Produtos Florestais S/A (Pulp and paper)
http://www.cambarasa.com.br
Carraro Moveis (Furniture)
http://www.carraro.com.br/site/index.php
Dell Anno Móveis (Furniture)
http://www.dellanno.com.br/home
Fibraplac Chapas de MDF (MDF wood panels)
http://www.fibraplac.com.br
Flosul - Wood Industry and Trade (Wood panels and lumber)
http://www.flosul.com.br/pt/index.php
Habitasul Florestal (Naval stores and pine chemicals)
http://habitasul.com.br
Masisa S/A (Wood panels)
http://www.masisa.com
Melbar LignoTech Products of Lignin (Lignosulfonates)
http://www.melbar.com.br
Reflorestadores Unidos (Forestry,
lumber and panels)
http://www.reflorestadoresunidos.com.br
Satipel Industrial (Wood panels)
http://www.satipel.com.br
ScanCom do Brasil (Lumber)
http://www.ra-smartwood.org/CustomerFactSheets/2067.asp
http://www.scancom.net
Seta Extrativa Tanino de Acacia (Tannin and wood
chips)
http://www.setaonline.com
Souza Cruz Florestal (Tobacco and cigarretes)
http://www.souzacruz.com.br
http://www.souzacruz.com.br/oneweb/sites/SOU_5RRP92.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/
7905122C95D930E5C12571CC005D081E?opendocument&DTC=&SID
http://www.centrodelogistica.com.br/new/teses/pdf/01dez04_Paulo_Grigorovski.pdf ("Souza
Cruz strategies in 101 years", Master Dissertation by Paulo Grigorovski,
UFRJ, 460 pp. - 2004)
Stora Enso / Derflin Agropecuaria (Forestry)
http://www.ageflor.com.br/index2.php?iProduct=84&p=productMore
http://www.storaenso.com/CDAvgn/showDocument/0,,4673,00.pdf (Speech
about the reasons for the Stora Enso growth in South America)
http://www.federasul.com.br/repositorio/BibArq000005.ppt (Mr.
Otavio Pontes's speech at Federasul)
http://www.silviconsult.com.br/relatorio_de_impacto_ambiental.pdf (Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the Stora Enso/Derflin
Eucalyptus forests plantations)
Tanac S/A (Tannin and wood chips)
http://www.tanac.com.br
Tecnoplanta Viveiros Florestais (Forest species
seedlings)
http://www.tecnoplantamudas.com.br
Todeschini S/A (Furniture)
http://www.todeschinisa.com.br/Todeschini/main/main.aspx
http://www.todeschini-rs.com.br/Todeschini/main/main.aspx
VCP - Votorantim Celulose e Papel (Pulp and paper)
http://www.vcp.com.br/losango/ptb/home (Losango
project in RS)
http://www.mz-ir.com/webcast/vcp/apmc3t06/download/vcp_apr_por.pdf (VCP
- Strategies updating. APIMEC speech, 2006)
Articles,
speeches and suggested euca-links
Continuous forest inventory for the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
It is a very useful and creative website, showing the results of
a wide inventory that has been performed about the forest resources
in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, late 1990's. The coordination
of this study was under responsibility of the Federal University
of Santa Maria - UFSM. The project leader was our dear friend Dr.
Doadi Antonio Brena. Logistic and financial support was provided
by the Environmental Secretary of this state. In the webpage you
are able to find statistics, maps, methodologies, conclusions, about
the state forest areas, both natural ecosystems and planted forests.
Please, visit:
http://coralx.ufsm.br/ifcrs/frame.htm
Environmental
zoning for the plantation forestry activity in Rio Grande do Sul
state.
FEPAM - RS State Agency for Environmental Protection is the control
and licensing office to all activities with potential and significant
environmental impacts. The forest plantations in large areas by the
forest-based companies is considered to be as one of the sectors to
deserve an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) study. Parallel to
this, FEPAM has also leaded an wide forum of dialogue with the interested
parties with several public hearings aiming to establish the legislation
and guidelines to the activity of silviculture in the state of Rio
Grande do Sul. As a result of this process, a wide document was issued
imposing the legal restrictions and providing the guidelines to the
plantation of forests with commercial purposes. It is an unique process
in Brazil and all the documents are available for public consultation.
Please, visit the address to download these valuable papers.
http://www.fepam.rs.gov.br/biblioteca/zoneam_silvic.asp
http://eta.fepam.rs.gov.br:81/biblioteca/zoneam_silvic.asp
Rio Grande do Sul: the new pulp frontier. M. Faleiros. O Papel (March):
34 - 41. (2008)
http://www.abtcp.org.br/Arquivos/File/reportagem%20capa%20pot%20bx.pdf (Portuguese)
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/outros/02%20%20ABTCP%20Reportagem%20RS%20English.pdf (English)
Programa de desenvolvimento florestal sustentavel com base em arranjos
produtivos de base florestal no Rio Grande do Sul. D.A.Brena; P.Pereira.
PowerPoint presentation: 64 slides. (2007)
http://www.cgimoveis.com.br/Members/lhansen/documento.2007-11-26.4790991183/at_download/arquivo
Estrategia para desenvolvimento de "clusters florestais":
a iniciativa gaucha. D.A.Brena. Revista Opinioes. (Dec 2007/Feb 2008)
http://www.revistaopinioes.com.br/Conteudo/CelulosePapel/Edicao010/Artigos/Artigo010-23-G.htm
Crescimento baseado na competitividade e na
cooperacao. R.Justen.
Revista Opinioes. (Dec 2007/Feb 2008)
http://www.revistaopinioes.com.br/Conteudo/CelulosePapel/Edicao010/Artigos/Artigo010-13-G.htm
Indicadores de formacao de uma plataforma exportadora de celulose
no Rio Grande do Sul. M.D.Benetti. Economy and Statistics Foundation RS. 11
pp. (2007)
http://www.fee.rs.gov.br/sitefee/download/indicadores/35_03/3-parte.pdf
Perspectivas de desenvolvimento sustentavel
da metade sul do Rio Grande do Sul com base nos arranjos silvicolas
emergentes
e na producao de etanol celulose. O.I.B.Santos; A.Magalhaes; R.Chaves;
A.L.F.Blos; T.N.Silva. IX ENGEMA. 17 pp. (2007)
http://engema.up.edu.br/arquivos/engema/pdf/PAP0365.pdf
Forum Florestal Estadual: Silvicultura - Sustentabilidade
florestal. An event sponsored by UNEF - Uniao Nacional dos Engenheirandos Florestais
at the Federal University of Santa Maria. Several speeches have been
presented about forest engineering and the role of the planted forests
in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, an activity in important growth
in the state. June. (2007)
http://w3.ufsm.br/unef/home.php
http://w3.ufsm.br/unef/programacao.php (Program)
http://w3.ufsm.br/unef/img/pro_silvic.pdf (Flyer
Pro-silviculture)
http://w3.ufsm.br/unef/palestras.zip (Speeches
86.4 MB)
Metodos de cenarios prospectivos como ferramenta de
apoio ao planejamento relativo a substituicao do atual uso do solo
por florestamento: estudo de caso - a bacia do rio Ibicui, RS. A.S.Cortez.
PhD Thesis. UFSM. 237 pp. (2007)
http://cascavel.cpd.ufsm.br/tede/tde_arquivos/11/
TDE-2008-04-30T131428Z-1497/Publico/ALEXANDRE%20CORTEZ.pdf
A abordagem de temas polemicos no curriculo da EJA ("Educacao de Jovens
e Adultos"): o caso do florestamento no RS. Master Dissertation. UFSM.
M.S.Forgiarini. 132 pp. (2007)
http://w3.ufsm.br/ppge/diss_forgiarini_07.pdf
Fatos e numeros do Brasil florestal. SBS - Brazilian Society of Silviculture.
110 pp. (2007)
http://www.sbs.org.br/FatoseNumerosdoBrasilFlorestal.pdf
A competitividade da exportacao brasileira
de cavacos de madeira. F.C.Neutzling; E.M.Palmeira. Observatorio de la Economia
Latino Americana.
Nº 77. (2007)
http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/ecolat/br/07/nmp.htm
Pedras Altas, Assis Brasil e os eucaliptos. Photo gallery, texts
and images by Poti Campos. (2007)
The legendary diplomat, politician, farmer, cattle grower, writer
and gaucho leader Joaquim Francisco de Assis Brasil (1857-1938) is
considered by many people in RS to be the first farmer to plant Eucalyptus in commercial stands in Brazil at his Pedras Altas farm. Please,
visit the suggested website to know the wonders of his farm in this
photo essay by Poti Campos. It is a fantastic historical report,
it deserves to be visited:
http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=
72157603093056076&nsid=83802087@N00&lang=en-us
Cadeias produtivas do agronegocio florestal
na regiao sul do Brasil. A.W.V.Castro; E.A.Pedrozzo; J.L.Quadros. Economy and Statistics Foundation
RS. 26 pp. (2006)
http://www.nead.unama.br/prof/admprofessor/file_producao.asp?codigo=79
http://www.fee.tche.br/sitefee/download/jornadas/2/e13-06.pdf
Analise do desenvolvimento economico sustentavel:
uma visao do avanco da atividade florestal no Rio Grande do Sul. C.S.Amaral. Student
Monograph. UFPel/RS. 62 pp. (2006)
http://ich.ufpel.edu.br/economia/professores/xavier/Desenvolvimento_Economico_
Sustentavel_atividade_florestal_monografia_Carine_Severo_do_Amaral.pdf
Impactos
socio-economicos da producao de celulose em larga escala: o projeto
da empresa Votorantim na metade sul (RS). C.A. Freitas; E.E. Mello;
O. Martinelli Jr.; P.J. Marion Filho; R. Luz Jr.; U. Bonilha; A.M.
Teixeira; F.B. Zuchetto; J.V. Feltrim; D.M. Bourscheidt. UFSM. 107
pp. Main report & 429 pp. Annexes. (2006)
http://coralx.ufsm.br/depeco/doc_cae/Relatorio%20Final%202007.pdf (Main
report)
http://coralx.ufsm.br/depeco/doc_cae/Anexos%20Votorantim.pdf (Annexes)
Historico do melhoramento genetico do eucalipto
no Brasil. A.D.F.Carvalho.
ESALQ/USP. PowerPoint presentation: 57 slides. (2006)
http://www.genetica.esalq.usp.br/pub/seminar/ADFCarvalho-200602-PPT.pdf
O paradoxo do eucalipto. G. Hasse. Digital article in the
Jornal Ja. (2005)
Please, visit to know the history of the Eucalyptus in the Rio Grande do
Sul state, a masterpiece written by the journalist Geraldo Hasse.
http://www.jornalja.com.br/especial_detalhe.php?id=171&cat=9
Florestamento na regiao sul do Brasil
- Uma analise economica. A.G.M.P.Alves; C.A.V.Silva; E.R.Santos Junior;
L.G.Moises; M.C.S.Pereira; O.A.Bremer. BRDE. 51 pp. (2003)
http://www.brde.com.br/estudos_e_pub/Florestamento%20na%20Região%20Sul%20do%20Brasil.pdf
Projeto florestal: alternativas para diversificar a atividade
florestal. Base referencial - Programa estrategico floresta-industria RS. A.J.
Mallmann. EMATER RS. PowerPoint presentation: 39 slides. (undated)
http://saturno.crea-rs.org.br/crea/documentos/Palestra%20Mallmann.pdf
Eucalyptus: Doubts, Creeds, Myths, Facts e Realities
Part 01: The opinion of the "contrary
interested parties"
The Eucalyptus trees are able to bring emotions
that travel from the most pure love and admiration to the most warm
positions against their planting. These contradictory viewpoints exist
in different regions of our planet. Some of these negative positioning
are strongly attached to political or religious ideologies; other are
result of mistakes made by the plantation forest sector some decades
ago, mostly based on the silvicultural technologies available on those
times. Another thing we cannot forget is that the Eucalyptus trees
grow so well and so fast that to everyone, incidentally or not, is
giving the chance to pay attention to them. For these reasons and for
others, there are millions of literature citations about the Eucalyptus in articles, interviews, scientific papers, columns in newspapers,
reports and studies. It is quite right that the Eucalyptus are, among
the trees, one of the few to deserve this honor to be so much referenced
by the literature. Surely, as in any democracy it should be, the opinions
are divided. This is very healthy, since different points of views
may be drivers for changes and improvements. I'm quite sure that some
of the environmentally friendly technologies being adopted in the Eucalyptus plantation forestry are result, in some extent, to the criticism placed
by some NGOs or by the midia, or because some researches that have
pointed negative impacts. The negative opinions are important to bring
a chance for reflections and eventually to show new routes to be followed
in our process and operations.
I have always believed that the best
way to understand the opinions placed against ours is to clearly hear
them. If we do not do this,
and try to warmly defend our points, without understanding the someone
else views, the conflict is absolutely inevitable. It is much better
to use the dialogue to try to find common points or roads of understanding.
For this reason, I have decided to create this section in our Eucalyptus
Newsletter: my purpose is not to present magnificent arguments in favor
of the Eucalyptus or to clarify the doubts by myself. What I intend
to do is to offer to all of you the chance to navigate in selected
references available in the web. Some are in favor, some against. To
those who admire the Eucalyptus, as myself, the reading of contrary
points may disclose some new points for reflections. I hope that the
contrary parties may also have a chance to think about the thousands
of positive contributions of the Eucalyptus to Mankind, as the next
edition will show. They may also get acquainted to the more sustainable
technologies and attitudes being now-a-days adopted in the plantation
forest segment. I'm not considering to indicate to you the literature
based or sustained just on ideologies, although they are frequent.
My selection is more related to technical issues, either to those writing
in favor or against the Eucalyptus. However, I've discovered that it
is inevitable to disconnect the contraries from some ideological points
that are rooted to the negative views they have about the Eucalyptus and about the Eucalyptus planters.
I
have written several articles in the Eucalyptus Newsletter about
these contradictory points. I have
written about the planted forests
of Eucalyptus and the water consumption, about the biodiversity impacts,
and recently about the soil conservation. In this edition, I'm bringing
to you another mini-article, this time opening the positive points
and the benefits achieved when planting Eucalyptus forests, and also
the negative ones, with the associated risks. For these last ones,
it is given the recommendation to care about them to minimize the negative
impacts on the operations. Emphasizing these points in my mini-articles,
I understand I'm bringing my contribution to better inform the Society
about the importance of the Eucalyptus for people's welfare and how
to grow them with minimum impact to the environment.
In the next edition,
I'll bring a selection of articles and speeches in favor to the Eucalyptus. Some of them are very good papers clarifying
many of the doubts someone may have about the Eucalyptus. I'm sure
that some of the myths will be destroyed by the facts will be presented.
But this is to happen in Eucalyptus Newsletter number 16. This
today edition is to show only the "contrary parties" viewpoints.
We are to hear and read from them first. I understand that their voices
may give us some additional inputs in the direction of the aimed sustainability.
Curiously, it was difficult to find contrary parties arguments based
on sound science. Seldom we could find technical and scientific articles
to sustain the negative points about the Eucalyptus in the contrary
parties arguments and websites. On the other hand, these NGOs and many
of their members are excellent in communications and to promote their
points based on emotions. Even the events organized by relevant universities
and engineering institutions had speakers emphasizing more the ideologies
and the creeds than showing scientific proofs of the myths. Anyhow,
we are able to see in other cases, a hybrid of political positions
and also technical considerations, for this reason also indicated in
this selection.
In the next Eucalyptus Newsletter, we'll have the
explanations coming from renowned scientists from Brazilian universities
and technical
people from the forestry sector. Be patient. I'm counting with your
visit to both parts of this section.
Unfortunately, to those not used
to the Portuguese language, most of the references are in this idiom.
Websites of some active NGOs campaigning contrary to the Eucalyptus plantations
WRM - World Rainforest Movement. (Uruguay)
WRM is one of the most active NGOs in Latin America, leading a Latin
American network of NGO's combating what they call the monocultures of trees.
http://www.wrm.org.uy
http://www.wrm.org.uy/plantations/index.html (Campaign
against the forest monocultures)
Christian Lang's website. (Germany)
Mr. Christian Lang is one of the most renowned activists placing strong
criticism against the Eucalyptus plantations, against the pulp and
paper industry and also to the forest certification schemes and to
tree genetic engineering. The page has several reports and news available
for downloading. In case you may have the interest to know more about
the criticism encompassing the Eucalyptus plantations, this is a
page to visit.
http://chrislang.org
NGO Robin Wood. (Germany)
The Robin Wood NGO is one of the most active environmental organizations
in Europe, campaigning very strongly in favor of the recycled paper
and against the planted forests, including those with Eucalyptus. The
majority of the pages in the website are in German, but you may find
some in English to visit.
http://www.robinwood.de/german/papier/neu/index.htm
NGO Urgewald. (Germany)
This German NGO has a wide campaign against the banks that are financing
harmful businesses, as classified by their members. They have included
pulp and paper and planted forests production among them.
http://www.urgewald.de
http://www.urgewald.de/index.php?page=9-97-348 (Section about worldwide
paper industry)
Website PulpMillWatch.org. (Germany)
This is the English webpage of the Urgewald NGO, with the focus to
counteract the pulp and paper industry growth, mainly the companies
based on forest plantations. The majority of the arguments are related
to water and biodiversity impacts and social aspects of these sectors.
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org (General website)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/media/pdf/Brazil_profile.pdf (A fact sheet
about Brazil)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/countries/brazil/brazil.html (A website
section about Brazil)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/countries/uruguay/uruguay.html (A website
section about Uruguay)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/media/pdf/SouthAfrica_profile.pdf (A fact
sheet about South Africa)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/media/pdf/Australia_profile.pdf (A fact
sheet about Australia)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/media/pdf/Indonesia_profile.pdf (A fact
sheet about Indonesia)
http://www.pulpmillwatch.org/media/pdf/China_profile.pdf (A fact sheet
about China)
TNI - Trans National Institute. (The Netherlands)
TNI consists in a network of activists and knowledge developing members
committed to evaluate and to place their views to the global problems
they consider to be relevant. Among the many issues they study, the
Eucalyptus plantation forests are also a core one.
http://www.tni.org (General website)
http://www.tni.org/detail_pub.phtml?know_id=223&username=guest@tni.org&password=9999&publish=Y (Carbon trade and forests)
http://www.tni.org/detail_pub.phtml?&know_id=79 (La Via Capesina
I)
http://www.tni.org/docs/200805151812458496.pdf? (La Via Capesina and
the agrarian reform)
http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?act_id=16545 (Brazil: an overview
of the Eucalyptus monocultures)
http://www.tni.org/detail_event.phtml?act_id=16710 (Expansion of the
Eucalyptus monocultures in Brazil)
FASE
- Federacao de Orgaos para Assistencia Social e Educacional. (Brazil)
FASE is a Brazilian NGO involved both in social and environmental
issues and campaigns. They are members of a NGOs network combating
what they
refer as "green deserts" or "tree monocultures".
They have several publications available in the website questioning
the forest plantations, with strong emphasis on the negative social
impacts. The most renowned of these publications is the one titled "Certifying
the uncertifiable", edited by WRM.
http://www.fase.org.br/_fase
http://www.fase.org.br/projetos/clientes/noar/noar/UserFiles/
12/File/Rede_alerta/Documentos/550_wrm.pdf
Latin America Network against the Tree Monocultures
(Several countries in Latin America)
All NGOs that are members of this network are presented in Chilean
OLCA website (Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Ambientales)
http://www.olca.cl/oca/monocultivo/red.htm
NatBrasil
- Nucleo Amigos da Terra. (Brazil)
This Rio Grande do Sul NGO belongs to the "Friends of the Earth" network.
They are showing strong opposition to the plantation of Eucalyptus
and Pinus forests in the South of Brazil. They are campaigning
very consistently with a well-documented website. The handbook "O Pampa
em disputa" presents their vision about the plantation of forests
in central Rio Grande do Sul, in a very illustrative brochure. Have
a look
:
http://www.natbrasil.org.br/monocultura.htm
http://www.natbrasil.org.br/Docs/monoculturas/cartilha_pampa_sustentabilidade.pdf
Articles,
speeches, and reports providing arguments against the Eucalyptus
Danos
reais e potenciais das monoculturas de arvores exoticas sobre as
comunidades e biota regional. Event having several speakers at UFSM
- Federal University of Santa Maria. Some speeches are available
in PowerPoint for downloading. Unfortunately, some of the speeches
are more political than technical. (2007)
http://www.multiweb.ufsm.br/web/cpdeventos/?controle=detalhes&categoria=6&id=62
O "no" do eucalipto: a sustentabilidade
da silvicultura na metade sul. S.A.Anesi. Hydrological Resources Seminar "The
Eucalyptus and the Hydrological Cycle". University of Taubate.
8 pp. (2007)
http://agro.unitau.br:8080/dspace/bitstream/2315/119/1/351-358.pdf
Eucalipto:
arvore do bem ou do mal? Cover and main
report. Espaco Ambiental Magazine 1(3): 26 - 32. (2007)
http://www.espacoambiental.com.br/pdf/espaco03.pdf
Revolucao verde = deserto verde.
SEDUFSM Special Radar. 1 pp. (2007)
http://www.sedufsm.com.br/jornal/pdf/J0706-04.pdf
A monocultura com eucaliptos e a sustentabilidade. L.Buckup. ONG IGRE. 8 pp. (2006)
http://www.igre.org.br/monocultura_e_sustentabilidade.htm
http://www.defesabiogaucha.org/textos/texto11.pdf
http://www.igre.org.br/noticias.htm (A
selection of news and articles by Dr. Ludwig Buckup / UFRGS)
Cartilha do eucalipto. S.Pinheiro. Fundacao Juquira
Candiru. Unfortunately, this guidebook is not available for downloading
in digital format, we are bringing only the reference as a book.
126 pp. (2006)
http://dedalus.usp.br:4500/ALEPH/POR/USP/USP/DEDALUS/FULL/1548247
O latifundio do eucalipto - Informacoes basicas
sobre as monoculturas de arvores e as industrias de papel. Via Campesina.
33 pp. (2006)
http://www.mabnacional.org.br/materiais/cart_eucalipto_via.pdf
Trading water for carbon with biological carbon
sequestration. R.B.Jackson; E.B.Jabbagy; R.Avissar; S.B.Roy; D.J.Barrett; C.W.Cook;
K.A.Farley; D.C.Maitre; B.A.McCarl; B.C.Murray. Science 310: 1944
- 1947. (2005)
http://www.natbrasil.org.br/Docs/monoculturas/artigo_science_impactosmonoculturas.pdf
Ruschi, o agitador ecologico. A digital book by R.Medeiros. Website
Seculo Diario. (undated)
http://www.seculodiario.com/ruschi (Book
with all chapters)
http://www.seculodiario.com/ruschi/ruschi5.doc (Chapter "Desertos
de florestas - Desert of forests", by Augusto Ruschi)
Monocultivo
de arvores, papel e celulose na metade sul do RS. Lino
De David. 8 pp. (undated)
http://www.sof.org.br/marcha/paginas/desertoVerde/docs/Monocultivo_de_arvores.rtf
Curiosities and Oddities about the Eucalyptus
by Ester Foelkel
(http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/ester.html)
In this edition*: The Eucalyptus being used to the Production of Bonsais
Bonsai
is the art to develop trees, that would naturally grow high and
big, in small recipients or trays. These
miniature trees are developed thanks to pruning, thinning, root reduction
and bending techniques for better conduction and formation. The Bonsais
first started over more than 10 centuries ago in China, and got improved
in Japan, place from where the name bonsai came: Bon = recipient
or tray, sai = tree. Generally, the bonsai represents the adult tree
format or an entire forest in dwarfing size with 18 to 80 cm high.
Furthermore, there are also the such called macro-bonsais. They are
bigger than 1 meter and can be developed up to 2 m high.
The
bonsai age is identified through its root system, that starts to
appear
above the recipient ground level, and by the trunk, that
becomes thick with big diameter, like an old tree trunk would be
on natural form. Many species of Eucalyptus can be used for this
purpose.
The
Eucalyptus bonsai techniques are frequently found among the Australians,
where this tree is indigenous from. However, thanks
to the good characteristics
for becoming a bonsai, we can find miniature Eucalyptus in all
parts of the world. This is also valid for beginners in the bonsai
art.
Some bonsai specialists tell that the principles of this art
are relatively hard to learn in the beginning, but after it becomes
extremely grateful and captivating.
To
make an Eucalyptus tree bonsai you must know the tree biology and
to study first its natural
shapes as well, before starting
pruning for the bonsai formation. Generally, the Eucalyptus bonsais come
from seed, but they can also be done with vegetative propagation
of seedlings, through cutting and cloning techniques, if the
bonsai-maker has this knowledge.
The
seedlings can be produced by the bonsai-maker, acquired from commercial
nurseries or obtained
from natural germination
seedlings
at the environment. The unsuitable environmental factors
imposed to the plants development lead them to interesting natural
forms, as much alike a bonsai. These characteristics are
very
much appreciated
by the bonsai-growers. The natural growing Eucalyptus seedling
is the ideal plant for this purpose, due to its owns style.
All plants
may be pest and disease-free. Phytosanitary problems can
be harmful for the bonsai development, specially because the plant
is already
stressed under pruning, thinning, bending and reductions
methods.
The Eucalyptus vigor
and the ability to shooting and sprouting along the year make them
very appreciated as bonsais. Other
important Eucalyptus characteristics
that are desired by bonsai collectors: all year green,
flexibility for different bonsai formats, ornamental
trunks,
bark
with intense color; distinct shapes, color and nice smell
leaves.
Eucalyptus
globulus also known as white Eucalyptus is the most
frequently used species for bonsais. It’s
a fast-growing species, with silver bluish leaves colors
and smooth bark alternating white and
green shades. Other species also requested as bonsai
are: E.gunnii, E. melliodora, which are less vigorous
and Corymbia
citriodora (Eucalyptus
citriodora), appreciated by the smell of the leaves (essential
oils). E. archeri, E. coccifera, E. nicholii, E.
parvula and E. vernicosa are commonly used as macro-bonsais in Australia. They
have
small leaves, a well-desired characteristic for the success
of these techniques.
Almost
all Eucalyptus need direct sun light for growing well. So, they
should be exposed to solar
radiation from
the beginning
of
Spring. In general, a climatization period using a
shadow wire for one week
is required when climate changes may be harmful to
the bonsais. It is also important a Winter resting period
to the plant,
to reduce the vegetation. This rest gives plant benefits,
helping its better
development later when climate becomes suitable again.
In Spring time, plant shooting starts and the plant
needs again
a climatization
step prior to be taken to a place with direct sunshine.
Irrigation is important, but do not forget the Eucalyptus do not like
excess
of water in their roots.
Pruning
and fertilization are recommended before starting the vegetative
period. N-P-K or capsule
fertilizers specialized
for bonsais can
be found on the market. The application of these products
should
be done during the Summer and on small quantities on
Winter time. Manure and compost, if well-applied, are
also welcome
for good
bonsai development.
Both
the young Eucalyptus bonsai
plants and the old ones may be tied with wires or
lines during six to
eight months
to obtain
the
desired
and most appropriate shapes in the plants. In a two
or three years basis, a cosmetic pruning before shooting
is recommended
for cutting
the damaged or excessive roots, branches and twigs.
The
early formation pruning must begin during the same
time of the
year, starting with
the removal of the main axial root (the central one).
After that, the plant is transferred to the tray.
It is important
that the
bonsai plant does not have a taproot system. This
is an advantage to the
vegetative propagated seedlings.
The
most appropriate soil for Eucalyptus bonsais should be those well-drained
and low-fertilized
to better
bonsai-makers working
the form of the plant. Intense vegetation is undesirable.
Most Eucalyptus species when are young bonsais they have a visible
lignotuber just above the ground level.
It’s a reserve tissue
near the base of the stem of the plant, helping
it on fast recovery specially when the axial primary
stem is damaged by fire, insect
or other herbivorous attacks. Many people wrongly
cut the lignotuber for not knowing that this act
may harm and stress the plant or even
lead it to death. The lignotuber should be maintained
and managed because it gives the ideal shooting
for
the desired bonsai style.
In addition to that, the lignotuber is completely
surrounded by the trunk, roots and branches after
the bonsai grows to the adult age,
becoming an important evidence of the bonsai age.
The most conventional Eucalyptus bonsai styles
are: formal erect, informal erect and slightly
bent (inclined).
The
formal erect style is commonly used for the major Eucalyptus species.
As the tree
grows, its
trunk
become thicker, without
any curvature. So, the twigs should be disposed
in an alternate pattern
on the primary trunk. The informal style respect
the tree deformations (trunk and twigs bends)
caused by
the stringent
environmental
factors. The slightly bent style try to simulate
the inclined trees found
on Nature. Dominant wind and geographical disadvantages
drive the tree trunk to a bent or inclined style.
The twigs or
branches in
this style must be vertical, without any inclination.
According
to Roger Hnatiuk, an Australian native plants bonsai expert, another
well-known Eucalyptus
style
is the "mallee". This
style also takes what we are able to watch on
Nature and to reproduce it in small scales. If
the species has heavy branches and long trunks,
so it should show as a bonsai. Miniature Eucalyptus forests can be
reproduced in the mallee style. They can have
very long and erect trunks or alternatively short,
tortuous or thick ones.
To
access wonderful Eucalyptus bonsai pictures,
its production techniques, pruning and shape
styles go
to the indicated
websites as suggested
below. There, you can also learn a lot more
about the styles of the bonsais and the most recommended
species
of Eucalyptus.
Find
out
more information about the art of the bonsais
and their beauty, specially when they made
with the
Eucalyptus:
http://git-forestry-blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/eucalyptus-bonsai-grow-them-indoors.html (English)
http://asgap.org.au/APOL2007/feb07-1.html (Article
by Roger Hnatiuk in English)
http://asgap.org.au/bonsai/newsletter.html (English)
http://asgap.org.au/apol-bi.html (English)
http://asgap.org.au/APOL6/jun97-3.html (English)
http://asgap.org.au/bonsai/apab-02.pdf (English)
http://asgap.org.au/bonsai/apab-03.pdf (English)
http://asgap.org.au/bonsai/apab-04.pdf (English)
http://www.anbg.gov.au/bonsai/bonsai-anbg-2005.html (English)
http://www.anbg.gov.au/bonsai/bonsai-anbg-2006.html (English)
http://www.anbg.gov.au/bonsai/images-06-captions/24-Eucalyptus-camphora-RH-e-137-3762_IMG.html (English)
http://www.anbg.gov.au/bonsai/images-06-captions/19-Eucalyptus-gunnii-RH-e-137-3778_IMG.html (English)
http://www.blueram.net/eucalyptus/indepthguide/bonsai.asp (English)
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1849366.htm (English)
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1990189.htm (English)
http://bonsaisite.com/index.html (English)
http://www.bonsaisite.com/mainten1.html (English)
http://www.bonsaisite.com/rocks1.html (English)
http://www.bonsaisa.org.au/pdf/2006-06-bonsai-Newsletter.pdf (English)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Eucalyptus-camaldulensis-Red-river-gum-Bonsai-
seed_W0QQitemZ350061299291QQihZ022QQcategoryZ59702QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem (English)
http://www.bonsaipalace.net.au/page20.htm (English)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamburo/482575841/in/set-72157600136342575 (English)
http://www.elhogarnatural.com/bonsai.htm (Spanish)
http://www.elhogarnatural.com/bonsais/eucalyptus%20globulus.htm (Spanish)
http://www.iberbonsai.com (Spanish)
http://fichas.infojardin.com/bonsai/eucalyptus-globulus-eucalipto-blanco-gomero-azul-bonsai.htm (Spanish)
http://www.atelierdobonsai.com.br/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9125&sid=8da7ac065ac1930c87bc0fe6e56cfa86 (Portuguese)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75224299@N00/1383594853 (Portuguese)
*The Eucalyptus bonsai picture presented in the
introduction of this section was kindly provided by the Friend of
the Eucalyptus Mr. Gustavo Iglesias Trabado.
The
Friends of the Eucalyptus
Mr. Gustavo Iglesias Trabado
Gustavo
Iglesias Trabado, or our dear friend Gus, as he likes to be called,
is no doubts about one of the best Eucalyptus' friends. There are several ways to be defined as a friend of the
Eucalyptus. One of them, is being a scientist, developing innovative
researches to enrich the knowledge about these great trees. Another
one is to definitively be someone in permanent love to these eucalyptic
species, as it would be said by Gus. There are several ways to prove
this friendship, and Gustavo is well-acquainted to put them into
practice. Although not being a scientist or an academic researcher,
Gus is a great defender and an applied science endless studious about
the Eucalyptus. Furthermore, he tries to disseminate all good knowledge
that may help the better understanding to the interested parties
in the Society.
Gustavo
Iglesias is a young man who was born in Galicia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia_ (Spain),
in the city of Lugo, Spain, in 1978. Although young, he has had
his
great efforts in favor of the Eucalyptus well-renowned,
both due to his professional activities, but also due to the creative
manner
he discovered to promote his friends Eucalyptus. Soon,
I will introduce to you his blog "Eucalyptologics", a
very well-elaborated digital messenger to scatter news about the
genus Eucalyptus. We
are being partners in this purpose to transfer knowledge about
the Eucalyptus. We have had many talks by e-mail messages,
but we never
had a chance to meet each other personally. Well, we are living
a new era in Earth, aren't we? On the other hand, as it is well
said
by Mathematics principles, the good Eucalyptus friends,
are also friends, isn't correct?
Gustavo
had forest engineering classes at the Superior Polytechnic
College in Lugo, University of Santiago de Compostela. For several
of his own reasons, he decided to have the course unfinished,
leaving the university to go to the professional life in subjects
related
to forestry (technical assistance and support to rural farmers,
seedling production, practical issues on forestry, etc). Soon,
he discovered
the need to be in continuous updating process, since new forest
issues are always coming with force: forest certification, forest
plantation
productivity improvements, cloned trees, sustainable forest management,
agroforestry systems, forest soil management, etc. For this reason,
Gustavo is a frequent participant in the Iberian forestry seminars
and congresses. He considers to be vital to stay in the state-of-the-art
knowledge with regard to forest plantations, with special focus
on the Eucalyptus ones. However, he does not satisfy himself
only learning
new things, he also needs to transfer this fresh new knowledge
to other interested people. He is being very successful on doing
this,
believe me.
Along
the practice in forestry themes on his professional career, he
has soon faced an intriguing question: the Eucalyptus trees
are very popular in Spain, they are very much planted by farmers,
but "would
they be evil or blessed by God trees?" How to defend planting
Eucalyptus in the dialogue to farmers with this type of doubt?
In consideration to all these myths and doubts, Gustavo decided
to study,
but to study as much as he could to clarify these points, both
to him and to those people he had to work with. He discovered
an incomplete
social perception about this controversial issue; he also could
notice the important negative advertising being promoted by
some NGOs; and
the forestry academic segment was being shy, slow and modest
to communicate and to clarify Society with clear and reliable
information. All these
findings were drivers for additional motivation to grab as
much information as he could, both positive and negative. He
had to
read, to study
and to take his own conclusions, keeping a neutral and unbiased
position. The information arrived in new and old paper books,
in the format
of digital files or websites to be navigated, etc. Some were
bought, others sent as recommendation or even by gift from
friends. His library
was becoming rich on knowledge, and today Gustavo claims to
have one of the major worldwide sources of technical and scientific
information about the Eucalyptus. I believe that both
Gustavo and myself, we
may have thousand of thousands of pages with knowledge about
our Eucalyptus friends.
After
obtaining this good fundamental knowledge in the literature, he
went working but at the same
time, grabbing practical details
about the cultivation of the Eucalyptus in Northern Spain.
He has soon become used to the reality of the Eucalyptus plantations providing
raw material to farmers and to a growing industry based on
the
wood coming from these forests. Being an enthusiast for pictures,
he is
taking tens of thousands of shots to allow better understanding
and also to compare the evolution of the Eucalyptus planted
forests along
the time. He also started to compare the Spain reality to
the Eucalyptus forestry in other countries as Portugal, Brazil,
France, etc. "Observing,
measuring, comparing, registering, understanding: these are
the basics for applied science", he concludes.
His
forest consulting company GIT-Forestry started in 2001 as a process
of "reverse consulting", "asking
and not giving answers".
At the same time the questions were being rose and new doubts were
appearing, the answers could be searched with determination: everybody
in the process could learn more. A wide knowledge network was created
including forest companies, scientific and technical organizations,
universities, government agencies, knowledge generation and transfer
entities, etc. The excellence being searched where it could be:
in Spain or outside the country borders. The topics related to
the Eucalyptus have become predominant and
every day with increased importance.
From
2004 onwards, new needs had to be placed in the forest business:
a wider view in the production
and supply chain to the wood based
industry became essential. Some strong demands for sustainability
came at once. The Spanish forest based industry was changing
and new opportunities were being created. The needs for good quality
seedlings came as a great opportunity, both for industrial production
forests or ornamental purposes. The clonal propagation was definitively
a winning method for seedling production. Mechanized harvesting
was also implemented very fast in Spain, just in a couple of
years.
Furthermore,
the rural farmers were accepting without restrictions to plant
Eucalyptus: the "blessed-tree" was being finally accepted
and had become winner in the controversy conflict. GIT-Forestry
found its chance
to grow. Today, Gus' company has a team of 4 forest engineers
and agronomists, working in a cooperative manner in an office
oriented
to forestry and agricultural services.
In
regard to the Eucalyptus, and thanks to his services with GIT-Forestry,
the following great
lines of achievements were
reached in recent
years:
• species identification for the great majority of the Eucalyptus cultivated
in Northern Spain, no matter whether in gardens, arboretum, tree
collections, forest plantations, etc.;
• evaluation of the importance and potentials of the Eucalyptus as
a forest and industrial resource to the country, with the trends
to grow;
• re-collection of seeds for the dominant Eucalyptus species and ecotypes
growing in the region;
• evaluation and imports of improved Eucalyptus genotypes;
• optimization of the nursery techniques, enabling the production of
more than 30 Eucalyptus species with industrial, agricultural and
ornamental potential in addition to those species already in use
in the region;
• Eucalyptus seedling exports to other European Union countries, from
2004 onwards.
GIT Forestry activities are sustained in three pillars:
• promotion of Eucalyptus tree productive plantations in a sustainable
manner, following good silvicultural management techniques applicable
to each kind of end-product: pulp fiber, solid timber and energetic
fuel biomass.
• development and transfer of new technology including forest tree
breeding to the small and medium sized rural farmers, and to the
forest services companies acting in the business;
• development and promotion of the Eucalyptus as ornamental plants
to the market.
Please,
have a look at the GIT Forestry website to better know Gustavo
Iglesias, a dedicated friend of the Eucalyptus in
Spain: http://www.git-forestry.com. I hope you may also have a chance to know
the Eucalyptic
Photo Gallery in:
http://git-forestry.com/gallery.htm
Please,
also visit some of his online publications:
Eucalyptus planting.
http://www.git-forestry.com/EucalyptusEarlyGrowth01.htm
Eucalyptus silviculture.
http://www.git-forestry.com/EucalyptusEarlyGrowth02.htm
Early silvicultural operations in Eucalyptus - Pruning E.nitens.
http://www.git-forestry.com/EucalyptusEarlyGrowth04.htm
Some giant Eucalyptus.
http://www.git-forestry.com/OldEucalyptusGlobulus.htm
The "Karri Knight: the tallest tree in Europe?
http://www.git-forestry.com/OldEucalyptusGlobulus.htm
Ornamental Eucalyptus.
http://git-forestry.com/OrnamentalEucalyptusWorldwideBARK.htm
However,
in my opinion, the Gustavo's major and magnificent contribution
to the Eucalyptus is his blog Eucalyptologics. The blog is the
result
of the need Gus had early identified in his professional career:
the lack of reliable and honest source of information about the
Eucalyptus to the general Society. Eucalyptologics is still a child
in the blogosphere:
it has about one year of age, leaving the "test tube stage" in
the last quarter of 2007. However, everything is very fast in the
digital age. This valuable information messenger is now reaching
92 countries through the registered people. The trend is to grow
even further.
Eucalyptologics
has come to life due to the feelings Gustavo had in his career
that Society was not being appropriately
informed about
the Eucalyptus. The lack of information was enormous,
mainly to the people not acquainted to scientific reading. With
the growth
and
simplicity of the information technology, Gustavo had the belief
that he could fulfill this room, supplying clear and honest information,
specially to the farmers and other interested parties in the communities.
GIT efforts in this regard is to provide good quality information,
no matter if developed by their own, or by third parties (available
in the web, or generated by the science). The blog has the aim
to reach a wide variety of readers: ornamental plant lovers; rural
farmers
interested to plant trees; industrial companies needing the Eucalyptus as raw materials, and the Society consumers demanding more knowledge
about the products being manufactured thanks to the Eucalyptus.
The objective is to make justice to the Eucalyptus, placing
them in the right position they deserve as source of renewable,
sustainable and
recyclable resources to Mankind. Furthermore, the Eucalyptus businesses
are also important generators of job positions to the people in
Society. Gustavo has several good examples about how many people
have changed
viewpoints about the Eucalyptus. Several farmers, by lack
of knowledge, were used to consider the Eucalyptus as
a pest or a weed. Now, they have turned position: they are planting,
defending and promoting
the Eucalyptus because the economic advantages and by
the social and environmental positive aspects they know about them.
Gustavo
hopes that more cases like these may continue to come, as a result
of his efforts. He is always in search of partners to fulfill his
objectives, among them our inter-link between http://www.eucalyptus.com.br and Eucalyptologics. Gustavo has a special consideration
to Dr. John Purse, another Eucalyptus' friend from United Kingdom,
owner
of the
Primabio company and website (http://www.primabio.co.uk).
When
I asked a question about his future dreams he told me he would
very much
like to travel worldwide taking pictures of Eucalyptus trees, no matter where they could be found. He defines himself
as a "tree hunter", but to admire and to photograph them.
He mention to be sorry that Antarctica is not in his travel plans,
since there are no Eucalyptus there (until now, I guess!).
Please,
visit the blog Eucalyptologics in the following address:
http://git-forestry-blog.blogspot.com
When
I asked him to tell me something important he had done to the Eucalyptus he replied to me
with a parable, and I'm sharing it with
you:
"I
collected seeds from a tree someone else had planted, and I said
thanks. I planted these seeds, I saw them germinating. I provided
water and light to the just born seedlings; and I said again, thanks.
I was able to see the trees growing, and they were so high, reaching
the sky. Once more, I said thanks. I harvested the trees, I converted
the wood in lumber, furniture and an ark. Someone is to use it
as my coffin someday in the future, I hope late, thanks to God.
The
seeds from those trees were also disseminated throughout the world.
Earlier, during and later. And I was proud to say thanks again.
Life is a cultivation cycle. Seed ideas. Someone, somewhere in
some moment
is to harvest them"
Thanks
Gus for your magnificent work in favor of and in benefit to the
Eucalyptus.
Online
Technical References
In this section, we are offering some very good euca-links with
relevant publications available in the virtual world wide web
library. You have only to click the URLs addresses to open the
documents and/or to save them. Since they are references, we
are not responsible for the opinion of the corresponding authors.
However, believe me, they are valuable references that should
be watched carefully, since they are very much connected with
the Eucalyptus. In this section, we are trying to balance recent
and historical publications, those that are helping to build
the foundations and the history of the Eucalyptus forestry, environment,
industrial utilization, and many other areas related to these
magic trees.
"Fazenda Legal" -
(Portuguese)
A handbook edited in 2007 by the Agricultural Federation of
the State of Rio de Janeiro. The aim is to provide guidance
to rural farmers in environmental and social issues to allow
a more sustainable agriculture. 72 pp.
http://www.faerj.com.br/TELAS/FazLegal/downloads/Cartilha%20Ambiental.pdf
"Reflexoes
sobre um Futuro Viavel" - (Portuguese)
A celebration issue of the BRACELPA magazine (Brazilian Association
of Pulp and Paper) dedicated to the Bracelpa Sustainable Development
Award to Journalists. The magazine shows a series of landmark
articles written by renowned journalists and thinkers with
reflections about the social-environmental development of the
country. The selected authors were as follows: Jacques Marcovitch,
Aldem Bourscheit, Sergio Adeodato, Jaime Klintowitz, Sandra
Balbi, Renata Brasileiro and Maristela Crispim. 52 pp. (2007)
http://www.bracelpa.org.br/bra/revista/pdf/revista_bracelpa.pdf
"Plan
de Manejo de Residuos Industriales - Celulosa Arauco Planta
Licancel" - (Spanish)
A well-detailed plan to minimize the impacts of the solid wastes
generation at Licancel mill, one of the Celulosa Arauco y Constitución
company in Chile. An excellent description of the pulp process
and the points of wastes generation is provided, together with
the measures of preventing and managing them. The same type
of document Arauco has to the other mills using Eucalyptus as fibrous raw material, as Nueva Aldea and Valdivia mills.
87 pp. (2005)
https://www.e-seia.cl/archivos/Plan_de_Manejo___Licancel_Final.pdf
"La Receta de la Sostenibilidad Papelera" -
(Spanish)
Excellent and well-illustrated document edited by ASPAPEL -
The Spanish Association of Pulp, Paper and Cartonboard Manufacturers,
showing the sustainability of the paper production chain in
Spain. 82 pp. (2008)
http://www.aspapel.es/memoria_final.pdf
"Manual
de Silvicultura para Pequenos Propietarios y Familia Campesina" -
(Spanish)
A guidebook provided by CORMA - Chilean Wood Corporation to
the rural farmers in Chile who are planting forests as promoted
by the program "Bosques para Chile - Forests for Chile".
31 pp. (Undated)
http://www.cormabiobio.cl/6accionar/bibliotecas/documentos/Manual%20Silvicultura%20Corma.pdf
"Sustainability of Forest Plantations" -
(English)
A great study written by Julian Evans through the UK Department
of International Development, United Kingdom, with the purpose
to help developing countries with their plantation forests
programs. 35 pp. (1999)
http://www.riverpath.com/library/pdf/sustainability_of_plantation_forestry.pdf
"Biological Sustainability of Productivity in Successive
Rotations" -
(English)
Also, a study by Julian Evans to the FAO - Food and Agriculture
Organization with the aim to show the effects of the continuous
utilization of the same soil by pine, teak and fir plantations
in some selected countries.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/006/ac122e/ac122e00.pdf
"Plantation Improvements Using Cloning Propagation - An
overview of the latest technology in Australia" - (English)
An article by Peter Radke and Ann Radke presented at the Congress "Prospects
for High-Value Hardwood Timber Plantation in the Dry Tropics
of Northern Australia". 14 pp. (2004)
http://www.plantations2020.com.au/reports/pfnq/acrobat/3-2_radke_radke.pdf
"Fiber Atlas - Identification of Papermaking Fibers" -
(English)
A classic book about the microscopic identification of pulp
fibers, written by M.S. Ilvessalo-Pfaffli and published by
Springer-Verlag in 1995. Now, the book is being made available
through Google Books. However, not all 400 pages are available,
but the sections you are able to read are fantastic, specially
to those who love wood and fiber anatomy.
http://books.google.com.br/books?id=jVXarsglcXgC&dq=vasicentric&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
References
on Events and Courses
This section has as aim to introduce to you several
very good links with recently already happened events. The advantage
provided to the readers is that the event organizers made the presentations
or proceedings available for free downloading. This is a very good
way to practice social and scientific responsibility. Our most
sincere thanks to all these organizers for this friendly procedure,
sharing the event material with the interested parties.
Brazilian Congress of Plant Breeding - (Portuguese)
In April 2007, in Sao Lourenco, MG, we had the 4th CBMP (BCPB),
organized by the Federal University of Lavras and by the Brazilian
Society of Plant Breeding. Even considering that this event is
more oriented to agriculture crops, the main concepts are very
similar, and the speeches are very good. Some of the speakers are
also frequent writers in the forest tree breeding literature, being
well-known also in the forestry sector. We had excellent presentations
about genomics, biotechnology, molecular markers, etc. They are
all available to the interested parties. Go to visit them:
http://www.ufla.br/eventos/cbmp/programacao.htm (Event
program)
http://www.ufla.br/eventos/cbmp/Palestras.htm (Speeches
in PPT)
Forest Science Graduated Students Symposiums - (Portuguese)
They are traditional events organized by the graduate students
on Forest Science in Brazil, comprising several universities. The
symposium is taking place in a two year basis since the year 2000.
The first edition happened at the Federal University of Santa Maria,
followed by the events in Vicosa, Manaus, Piracicaba and this year
in Brasilia. To the events that have taken place in the years 2000,
2002, 2004 and 2006 it is already possible to find the articles
and speeches to download them.
2000
(Federal University of Santa Maria - specific webpage)
http://efl.unb.br/simposio/simpsantamaria.html
2002
(Federal University of Vicosa - 8.1 MB RAR files)
http://efl.unb.br/simposio/Anais_2_Simposio/Anais_2_Simposio.rar
2004
(Federal University of Amazonas and INPA - National Institute
of Amazon Researches - 16.4 MB RAR files)
http://efl.unb.br/simposio/Anais_3_Simposio/Anais_3_Simposio.rar
2006
(ESALQ - University of Sao Paulo - 6.8 MB RAR files)
http://efl.unb.br/simposio/Anais_4_Simposio/Anais_4_Simposio.rar
International Pulp Week - World Market Pulp Open Forum - (English)
One of the most traditional events about market pulp with outstanding
presence of the Brazilian pulp manufacturers. It is organized every
single year by the PPPC - Pulp and Paper Products Council (http://www.pppc.org/en/1_0/index.html).
The PPPC is an alliance of pulp and paper associations covering
over 70% of the world market pulp production, altogether. The event
takes place in general in Montreal or Vancouver, Canada. I had
the great opportunity to present a speech in the 2005 event at
Montreal. The title of the speech "South America: the ABC
and U countries". It is available to you in a link below.
We were able to find in the web some links to other speeches, but
not all of them. In general PPPC discloses only the speeches presented
at the World Market Pulp Open Forum, one of the sections of the
International Pulp Week great event. In case you may have interested
to the pulp and paper markets, have a look on the suggested euca-links.
2005
Event::
http://www.internationalpulpweek.com/c011.html
http://www.pppc.org/en/presentations/PW2005/2005-IPW-REVISED-PROGRAM.pdf (2005
IPW event program)
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/Palestras/Market2005.pdf (Speech
by Celso Foelkel)
2006 Event::
http://www.internationalpulpweek.com/c013.html
2007 Event:
http://www.internationalpulpweek.com/p014.html
2008
Event:
http://www.internationalpulpweek.com/p003.html
XXII
IUFRO World Congress "Forests in balance: linking tradition
and technology" - (English)
This is one of the most renowned events in the forestry area, organized
by IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations).
To download the speeches and papers of this event that took place
in Brisbane , Australia, 2005, please visit:
http://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2005
Euca-Links
Here, we are bringing to you a series of links
with several very good websites that have strong connection
with the Eucalyptus. I hope you may visit them, taking
advantage of the good technical material they offer at a no
cost basis.
Speeches for downloading at SBS - Brazilian Society of Silviculture
website - (Brazil)
The SBS - Brazilian Society of Silviculture is one of the first
created forestry associations in Brazil. The association plays
important roles in technical, legal and political issues in
forestry in the country. In general, SBS has a strong position
on forestry events, always presenting remarkable speeches about
the Brazilian plantation forestry sector. Have a look on the
speeches at the SBS website:
http://www.sbs.org.br (General
website)
http://www.sbs.org.br/secure/palestra-download.php (Speeches
and articles)
UFPR Forest Fires Laboratory - Federal University of Parana - (Brazil)
This is a very interesting website related to prevention and control of
forest fires. Besides the illustrations, guidelines and prevention measures
explanations, the website has a wide list of academic theses and articles
about this subject, all available for downloading.
http://www.floresta.ufpr.br/firelab (General
website)
http://www.floresta.ufpr.br/firelab/artigos.html (Articles)
http://www.floresta.ufpr.br/firelab/teses.html (Theses)
ABTG Forum about the environmental impacts of printing on paper
- (Brazil)
This is a discussion forum having the coordination of our dear friend Mr.
Manoel Manteigas de Oliveira. It is provided to public through ABTG - Brazilian
Association of Graphic Technology. The purpose is to debate and to hear
opinions about the environmental effects of printing papers. Please, visit
the forum, place your comments and read the available ones. After all,
the major proportion of printing papers manufactured in Brazil have the Eucalyptus fibers as main raw material.
http://forumabtg.blogspot.com
Forest Certification Resource Center da Metafore - (USA)
Metafore is a non-profit organization dedicated to the innovation and improvements
on the forest and paper businesses, aiming the sustainability. One of the
Metafore focus is forest certification. At the Metafore website, there
is a wide section covering this issue. To all readers willing to know more
about forest and wood products certification, please visit this website:
http://www.metafore.org (Metafore
website)
http://www.metafore.org/index.php?p=Forest_Certification_Resource_Center&s=147
(FCRC - Forest Certification Resource Center)
Plants of the Cerrado Biome - (Brazil)
Cerrado is one of the largest Brazilian biome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerrado).
In this interesting website by Fernando Tatagiba, the author presents several
Cerrado most typical plants. This website is a section of the wider biological
website http://biologo.com.br.
http://biologo.com.br/plantas
CIS
- Madeira - (Spain)
CIS Madeira or CIS Wood is the website corresponding to the CIS - Wood
Innovation and Services Center in the region of Galicia, Spain. The website
has very useful information about the woods, mainly those related with
the Eucalyptus. There is a digital book about the wood of Eucalyptus
globulus ("White" Eucalyptus) for downloading, a knowledge
masterpiece material. There is also another book about the Eucalyptus wood applications, also a very good technical report to be read.
http://www.cismadeira.es/Galego/inicial.htm (General
website)
http://www.euroglobulus.com/content/consultaEbook.asp?id=8 (White Eucalyptus Handbook)
http://www.cismadeira.es/Galego/downloads/eucaliptoweb.pdf (Eucalyptus:
wood applications)
http://www.cismadeira.es/Galego/publicacions/artigosonline.htm (Online
digital articles, with strong emphasis on saw-timber and sawing techniques
to the Eucalyptus wood)
Technical
mini-article by Celso Foelkel
The Eucalyptus Plantation Forests and the Environment
Planting forests may be an excellent and environmentally friendly
alternative for obtaining the required wood to fulfill the demands
from Society. When planting forests in an appropriate manner we will
be helping to preserve the natural forests and to protect the environment.
The FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization classifies the planted
forests in two categories: productive plantation forests and environmentally
protective plantation forests. The main product obtained from commercial
and productive planted forests is the wood log, with bark or debarked.
These logs are to be fed into industrial processes to the production
of pulp, paper, furniture, construction material for houses, etc.
Another very important utilization for the productive forests is
the supply of biomass fuel as firewood or the derived charcoal. In
all these cases, we are dealing with renewable natural products,
since the forests may be replanted again after being harvested, and
this happens in a successive way. The protective planted forests
aim to solve environmental problems as such: combat to desertification,
dunes retention, hillsides and slopes protection, recovery of degraded
lands, carbon sinking from atmosphere, improvements of the flow regularity
in water resources, improvements of the water quality in the rivers,
etc., etc. Several of these protective roles are also performed by
the production forests along their lives.
FAO has recently published a report about the Global
Inventory of the Earth Forests, having collected statistics from
174 countries.
The data from this report, known as FAO Forestry Paper Nº 147
- Global Forest Resources Assessment - FRA 2005, may be found in
the following URL address: http://www.fao.org/forestry/41555/en.
As it may be seeing in this report, in the year 2005 there should
be found an area of 109.4 million hectares of productive plantation
forests and 30.1 million hectares of forests planted for environmental
protection. This report modifies the figures in relation to previous
FAO reports due to changes in the criteria to define the forests.
The country leaders in productive plantation forests were in the
order: China (28.5 M ha), USA (17 M ha), Russia (10.7 M ha), Brazil
(5.4 M ha), Sudan (4.7 M ha), Indonesia (3.4 M ha) and Chile (2.7
M ha). The order is slightly different as protective plantation forests
are ranked by countries: Japan (10.3 M ha), Russia (5.1 M ha), China
(2.8 M ha) and India (2.2 M ha).
Planting forests is an activity
in force almost all over the world. The areas covered by planted
forests are far below the areas of natural forests, agricultural
crops and pastures. In Brazil, the area covered with planted forests corresponds
to about 0.7% of the country territorial area, while the soybean complex occupies
2.6% and cattle growing pastures 20%. The main sources of wood to human beings
are still the natural forests. The FAO, worried with the deforestation process
taking place in several regions of the world, is strongly suggesting the plantation
of forests as a measure to provide the needed wood to the human demands. In Brazil,
the industrial forest sector is strongly based on the wood coming from plantations,
specially the pulp and paper segment. Regarding this sector, the industrial production
is totally based on the wood of Eucalyptus, Pinus and Acacia plantations.
Planting
forests is an activity similar to agriculture, in some extent. The
technical fundaments are more or less the same. It consists in the
selection of appropriate
lands and selected forest species to grow in compatible growth rates and supplying
the required quality in the wood. In general, the forest species are flexible
and adaptable to different environmental conditions. They have low exigencies
on soil fertility, weather variations and water supply. The major advantage the
planted forests have in comparison to conventional agriculture is the longer
cycle, mainly in relation to annual crops (corn, soybean, wheat, rice, sugar-cane,
etc.). Since the plantation forests are oriented to the long-term harvesting
in Brazil, from 6 to 25 years, the human interventions in the planted areas are
minimum.
Even in comparison to fruit orchards or plantations of coffee or
cocoa, the human visits to the plantation forests are fewer in number.
To plant the
forest, the man has the soil prepared to receive the seedlings. During this
phase, the soil receives a minimum impact preparation, and fertilizers,
insecticides
and herbicides are provided as agrochemicals. After this step, the next human
visits will take place on operations as pruning, thinning or harvesting. This
means that during some years the forests grow alone, the man only come to monitor
the growth or to detect potential risks of fire, pests or diseases.
It is important
to recognize that any intense and concentrated anthropic activity
has a potential to generate social and environmental impacts. It is the case
of large areas of afforestation for industrial utilization of the forest products.
These impacts may be positive or negative, and they have different intensity
and magnitude. For this reason, it is important to perform an environmental
impact assessment study in the case of projects for large areas of plantation
forests.
An appropriate planning is also vital, to minimize the negative effects and
risks, and to optimize the positive effects expected from the project. Associated
to
the eco-forestry complex planning that is vital to precede any activity in
the field, it is also important to have criteria for the perfect land zoning
in the
region. Doing this, it is possible to orient areas for permanent environmental
preservation, others to the production of food and others to the forest production
in plantations. Everything demanded by Nature and Society in search of Sustainability.
Both Brazilian forest legislation and scientific and technical knowledge
have developed very significantly, adding environmental quality to
the plantation
of forests in Brazilian lands. The leading Brazilian forest companies are using
advanced forest management technologies, the same recommended by the most renowned
forest certification organizations in the world. These technologies are oriented
to sustainable production and environmental protection. They are dominant in
the forest companies, no matter they are planting Eucalyptus, Pinus, teak,
black wattle, Araucaria, etc. The technologies are in continuous process of
improvements
through cooperative research studies including the forest companies, the universities
and research institutes. In the past 40 years, the forestry science had a tremendous
development in Brazil, both to forest productivity and environmental protection.
This is the result of a lot of science and investigations. Thanks to the modern
technologies, it is possible to combine a high quality silviculture with ecoefficiency
and minimum environmental impacts. On the other hand, it is also right to admit
that impacts exist, they are inevitable. However, we are able today to minimize
the negative impacts by protection and preventive measures. We may also maximize
the positive impacts. Unfortunately, as it is typical in human beings, not
all people have the same principles and behavior. It is in this moment that
the government
control agencies and environmental entities of the Society may play their role
as inspectors. We consider to be fundamental the honest and efficacious environmental
control in the agriculture, cattle growing and forestry activities. It is also
important to provide more information to the ordinary citizen. Awareness and
knowledge have also to be developed and maintained in entrepreneurs, business
people, politicians, inspectors, and to the citizens of our Society in a whole.
We need food, wood, water, energy. The science is offering us technologies
with minimum environmental impacts. It depends on us, Mankind, to use the best
available
knowledge to optimize our eco-efficiency and eco-efficacy. I have no doubts
that in 40 years ahead from now, our silviculture will be much better and more
environmentally
friendly. Our abilities to produce wood and to protect the environment will
be better. However, to reach this future time, we need to keep planting forests,
studying, researching and showing good will to make the best. We need also
to
hear the points of views of those placing criticism, to understand their points
and to incorporate new reflections in search of continuous improvements in
our forestry.
Independently of the developed knowledge and modern eco-efficient
technologies, with sounder levels of sustainability, the negative social
and environmental
impacts of the plantation forest projects need to be identified, evaluated,
monitored, mitigated and minimized with a great level of responsibility and
commitment.
The forest business people who want to have good productivity in their planted
forests in the long-term, they must also work for environmental excellence
and social justice. For this reason, they need to understand their environmental
and social impacts, and must work to optimize them. Doing this, they will
be helping Nature and adding happiness to the persons who are directly
or indirectly
connected to their forest operations.
Some
of the best tools that have been offered to the forest tree planters
were the environmental management
system certification and the forest certification
schemes. All leading Brazilian companies are already certified in both types
of systems. These certifications are a demonstration of the care they have
with the social and environmental managements when planting and harvesting
the forests.
These certifications are also a proof that the best available forestry technologies
are in force at the forest certified companies. To be certified the operations
are evaluated in terms of their environmental and social impacts. The impacts
have to be identified, evaluated, quantified, controlled, mitigated, optimized
and further monitored along the time. The companies are also submitted to
third
parties environmental audits to check their compliance to the recommended
criteria and principles. A vital basic exigency from all certification system
is that
the forest company be in accordance and in compliance to all applicable legislation,
no matter whether forest codes or environmental, labor and taxation laws.
The certification according to the standards IS0 14001 and OHSAS 18000 are
demonstrations
that the forest operations are following the most required environmental
and social concepts. They also are an indication that the companies are committed
to a continuous improvement program, with clear and defined targets, some
of
them negotiated with the surrounding communities.
Despite
all these technical and managerial advances and commitments in
the plantation forest
segment, there are some permanent question marks about
the silviculture,
mostly of them originated in some segments of the Society. Some of these
objections are due to the unknown position they have about what the forest
companies are
doing and about what the science has revealed. Others are result of some
mistakes the forest sector has made in the past, using the available technologies
at
that times: they resulted in myths and creeds about forest plantations.
Finally, we
have typical complaints that are due to ideological and political reasons.
In reality, the science and the technology for planting forests
in Brazil is very recent. The first forest engineers were graduated
in the country
about
40 years ago. It is a young career. The silviculture oriented to highly
productive and fast growing forest stands has a couple of years more
than 100 years.
All this is recent and a lot of things have appeared in just few decades.
Furthermore,
the forest sector is not being very efficient in communicating these advances
to the same Society it supplies with forest products. The consequence is
that there are several myths and doubts not very clarified to the citizens
of the
general Society. I'm trying to elucidate some of these points in my recently
written mini-articles in different editions of the Eucalyptus Newsletter.
I'm doing my best to write these technical issues in a clear, honest and
simple
writing
to allow good understanding. In this present mini-article, my purpose is
to relate all the main positive and negative effects of the plantation
forestry activity.
They will be revealed in a general way, not detailed, neither classified
according
to some ranking technique. Furthermore, we need to understand that the
negative effects should be considered as potential risks. They may
happen in variable
intensities, depending the procedures to prevent or to control them. On
the other hand, the positive effects may be maximized to allow further
gains
to the Society
or to Nature. The intensities, magnitudes and trends are in general local,
varying case-by-case. Better explaining, a social positive impact as job
generation may
be very important and significant in a small town, and of low importance
in another city, where the demand for labor is well-balanced by the existing
offer.
Other
example: the impact on soil erosion may vary according to the kind of soil,
with the slope, with the planted species, the soil management, etc.
Definitively,
it is very important to know the potential of the impacts and the risks
associated and to work for mitigating and controlling them.
It
is vital
to have a preventive attitude. For example: the risk for soil erosion
exists, it is a negative and important one. The soil must be prepared
for planting,
and when harvesting the forest, the land stays exposed and unprotected.
It is responsibility
of the forest planters and their technical teams to develop preventive
measures using soil conservation techniques already known and developed
by soil science.
By doing this, even in the case the risk of the erosion negative impact
is considered important, the resulting effect on soil may be minimum
due to
the preventive
and mitigation procedures that have been adopted. For making this happen,
it is vital to plan, to know the more advanced techniques, to be committed
and
to later monitor the results of the operational actions. Measurements,
quantifications and vital environmental and social indicators are needed
to be developed
in order
to check the results of operational actions, no matter the impacts are
positive or negative.
Some of the potential negative risks and impacts
the Eucalyptus plantation forests may have are presented ahead. It
is important to mention that
the great majority
of these risks are also common in other agricultural crops when they
are planted in areas similar as those occupied by the plantation forests.
These
risks are
not presented in an order of magnitude, as said before. We know that
the intensity of the risk and the negative impact depend on each situation,
case-by-case. Following they are:
• Changes in the agriculture matrix of the
region, with displacement of some of the traditional land utilizations;
•
Changes in the rural landscaping (also known as "monoculture effect",
due to the potential monotony in the landscape);
• Increasing traffic of vehicles and machinery, with risks of accidents
involving people and also the fauna;
• Reduction in the hydrological resources as a result of the forest canopy
water interception and evapotranspiration of the soil/forest complex;
• Reduction of the water quality in the water streams and water courses,
due to the sediments dragged by the rain run-off and soil erosion;
• Decreasing in the food production by the displacement of agricultural
and cattle growing areas;
• Increasing soil erosion due to planting and harvesting operations, as
well by the construction of new forest roads;
• Loss of soil fertility by the nutrient exports with the wood and other
products taken out from the forests;
• Increasing forest soil compaction;
• Increasing risk of forest fires;
• Increasing risk of forest workers accidents;
• Increasing forest plantations by rural farmers not using the more sustainable
technologies that have been mentioned till now;
• Use of agrochemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers,
etc.);
• Effects on the quality, quantity and on the habits of the biodiversity,
both flora and fauna, in the areas cultivated with the monoculture;
• Generation of dust and noise;
• Consumption of fuels to move machines and vehicles;
• Risk of new pests and diseases due to the concentration of the plantations
of single species and by the changes of vegetal species planted in the region;
• Risk to bird migrations;
• Increasing flow of people migration to the region due to the job opportunities
just created by the operations;
• Risks to archaeological and paleontological sites;
• Risks of changes in the culture of the people living in the region due
to the introduction of new concepts by the just arrived persons coming to work
in the
business;
• etc.
From the time the potential negative risks are disclosed and identified,
it is possible to project and to implement mitigation programs and
monitoring plans
to evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures. The leading
plantation forest companies in Brazil are working very efficiently
on this, working
through:
• Previous evaluation impact assessment studies as environmental and social
management tools;
• Adoption of environmental and workers safety management systems (ISO
14001 and OHSAS 18000);
• Forest certification (forest management and chain-of-custody);
• Risk and environmental impact evaluation and management;
• Protection and rehabilitation of permanent preservation areas;
• Reservation of additional protected areas in compliance to the Brazilian
legislation (Legal Reserve Areas);
• Protection of environmental natural areas as RPPNs - Private Reserves
of Natural Heritage (http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserva_Particular_do_Patrim%C3%B4nio_Natural);
• Adoption of micro watersheds installed for hydrological monitoring and
management purposes;
• Extirpation of invasive exotic plants in the surrounding agricultural
lands and in the areas of natural protection;
• Wide monitoring plans to follow up the effects on fauna, flora, hydrological
resources, soil, etc;
• Building of wastewater treatment units to treat the nursery effluents
and the sanitary sewer from the workers camps;
• Building of organic matter composting stations to convert organic wastes
into compost to be used in the forests or at the nurseries as fertilizer;
• Wide system for prevention and protection of the forests against fires,
pests, diseases, etc.;
• Environmental education programs developed to the workers and to the
communities;
• Protection and recovery of archaeological and paleontological sites;
• Creation of dialogue forums to hear the points of view of the communities,
adding transparency to the process;
• etc.
All activities in such size offer risks, but they also bring several
benefits and positive effects. The benefits are very valid, specially
to the surrounding
communities, but there are also gains to the environment. We may
present the following list of positive effects derived from the Eucalyptus plantation forests:
• Generation
of valuable and renewable forest products, used to improve the
quality of life of the human Society;
• Utilization and recovery of degraded and exhausted lands due to the previous
intense utilization by the agricultural crops or pastures;
• Substantial increasing in the areas of permanent natural preservation
in comparison to other uses of the land. To each one or two hectares of net effective
planted
area with forests, the Brazilian forest sector is preserving one
hectare of untouched native forests. This is definitively a gain to the environment
and to biodiversity
preservation and protection.
• Reduction on the pressure over the natural forests since the wood to
fulfill the Society needs may come from the plantation forests;
• Implementation of the areas known as RPPNs - Private Reserves of Natural
Heritage;
• Guarantees of better ecological balancing and stability in the eco-forestry
complex because the longer cycles of the plantation forests, by the appearance
of the
under-story vegetation, for the fauna sheltering provided, for
the protection of the biodiversity in the permanently preserved natural areas,
etc.;
• Liberation of pure oxygen to the atmosphere due to the photosynthesis
performed by the growing forests. To each net ton of dry organic matter stored
by the growing
forest as plant tissues, it releases 1.18 tons of oxygen. A good
quality Eucalyptus planted forest forms around 20 to 35 tons of dry organic matter
per hectare per
year during its vegetative growth period. Making the right calculations,
it is possible to verify the importance of such physiological action of the Eucalyptus planted forests;
• Absorption and sinking of the atmospheric carbon, cooperating to the
reduction of the Global Warning referred as Green-House Effect. Every single
year, a growing
Brazilian Eucalyptus planted forest is able to sink from 8 to 13
tons of carbon. This corresponds to about 30 to 50 tons of carbon dioxide. This
gas is part sunk
and part converted into oxygen to the atmosphere, what a great
gain to the environment!
• Contribution to the hydrological resources flow stabilization and to
the better water quality of these resources due to the filtering effect provided
by the
eco-forest complex;
• Reduction of soil erosion and dragging of soil sediments due to the longer
times the soil remains covered by vegetation;
• Attenuation of soil erosion in regions with sharp slopes due to the eco-mosaic
and to the areas permanently preserved;
• Conservation of an organic litter covering the soil surface, improving
the soil richness, fertility, moisture and consequent micro-life and biology;
• Attenuation of the wind forces thanks to the effect of a wind-barriers
given by the forests;
• Minimization of the variations in the local micro-weathers and climates;
• Improving the diversity in the rural farms, by the introduction of another
option to the land owners;
• Offer of an alternative clean and renewable energy source (biomassa fuel);
• Offer of new sources of incomes and opportunities to the rural farmers;
• Acceleration and growth of the local and regional economy;
• Increasing collection of duties and taxes improving the financial health
of the municipalities;
•
Generation of new opportunities of jobs to the human Society. For each 100 hectares
of effective planted forests we have the estimate for the generation of 2 to
5 direct jobs. The generation of indirect job positions is a lot more impressive,
it reaches 3 to 5 times more. This is due to a phenomenon known as "income
leverage effect on jobs generation";
• Diffusion of new technologies and agricultural techniques with appropriate
level of sustainability;
• Implementation of environmental education programs to the surrounding
communities, offering the chance for better integration among the different actors
of the
Society;
• Strong and important integration to the education and research systems,
cooperating to the scientific and technological development of the country;
• etc.
Risks and benefits are words that travel side-by-side. It
is the role of the tree planting entrepreneurs to minimize the negative
economic
and social-environmental
risks and to leverage the benefits of their plantation forest
projects. Doing this, they are being fair to their business, to Society
and
to the Environment.
They will be also travelling in the direction of the proclaimed
Sustainability.
There is one thing to me that is absolutely right
in this process of planting trees : "Those who plant trees believe
in the future".
Sustainability is also a concept with a vision of future and
long-term.
Eucalyptus
Online Book & Newsletter are technical information texts
written and made available free of charge to all people involved
with the
forestry and utilization of the Eucalyptus. It depends only on registering
yourself to receive them.
Technical coordination - Celso Foelkel
celso@celso-foelkel.com.br
Webmaster / editing - Alessandra Foelkel
Celsius Degree: Phone (+55-51) 3338-4809
Copyright © 2007-2010
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opinions expressed in the texts are those of the author or
coming from the referenced
technical literature. They do not necessarily reflect the
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