Eucalyptus trees and biodiversity
Balancing economic development with environmental sustainability is a global challenge. This balance becomes more complex as
the world’s population grows – and people demand goods whose production involves the use of natural resources. An important
element in any discussion about the sustainable use of natural resources is the protection of biodiversity.
Brazil's history relating to the devastation of ecosystems has many of its roots in the natural forests – which were, and
continue to be, strongly impacted by timber exploration. Over time, the timberlands were replaced by pastures and agricultural
crops. Large areas of different Brazilian biomes have since been devastated, directly affecting biodiversity.
This is the case in the Atlantic Forest, which was originally the biome in the areas of Aracruz’s operations in Espírito Santo and Bahia. The Atlantic Forest is a complex and lush group of ecosystems which shelter significant portions of Brazilian biological diversity. It is also internationally recognized as a biome in need of emergency conservation actions.
Aware of this, Aracruz seeks to favor the conservation of all native forest remnants on its properties. By cultivating renewable plantations, the company actively participates in the global effort to mitigate the pressure on native forests.
The company owns approximately 300,000 hectares of managed eucalyptus plantations interspersed with 180,000 hectares of preserved native reserves. Such anamount of native reserves could hardly exist today if it were distributed in a too fragmented land structure that traditionally occurs in several parts of our country, especially in the Southeast Region.
As for other agricultural activities, the planting of forests has an environmental impact. However, in the case of eucalyptus,the adoption of such practices as using a mosaic planting pattern (where eucalyptus stands are intermingled with native forests)and maintaining ecological corridors (eucalyptus plantations that connect fragments of separately preserved native forests) significantly reduce the impact on the environment– and quite often helps to protect it.
The presence of native reserves helps to protect the eucalyptus trees as well. Native forests provide homes for several natural enemies of pests and diseases that threaten the planted forests. Fifteen years ago, Aracruz began monitoring the flora and fauna in its eucalyptus plantations and in areas of native reserves (Table 7). Recently, that work was extended to Forestry Partners Program properties and to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This allows the company to evaluate the richness of the biodiversity in its forestry areas, whether the management practices it adopts are sustainable, if the distribution and quality of the preservation areas are sufficient for environmental balance, and whether there are special environments that require special protection. Finally, this work offers the necessary basis to THE PASSAGE OF SUNLIGHT IN EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS PERMITS CO-EXISTENCE WITH OTHER TYPES OF VEGETATION THE EUCALYPTUS LIVES IN HARMONY WITH OTHER SPECIES EUCALYPTUS TREES and the environment EUCALYPTUS TREES and 32 | EUCALYPTUS TREES and the environment the environment | 33 improve the company’s forestry management system continuously.
Special attention is paid to the various species of birds that live in the plantations. They play a key role in research into biodiversity, according to experts, becausethey are considered excellent biological indicators of the quality of the environment. Birds react to the slightest environmental imbalances.
Some 125,000 individual birds have been recorded in the company's database, of which more than 12,000 have been tagged and classified during 13 years of studies. This activity has consumed more than 150,000 man-hours of work. The tagging data makes it possible to track how long the birds remain on company land along with the areas they cover, and also the interrelation of several factors helps assess the quality of the local environment, both in the commercial eucalyptus plantations as well as in the Atlantic Forest reserves.
