Forests
In today’s world, production and consumption must adapt to standards that ensure future generations have natural resources, energy sources, a balanced climate, and food, among other essential needs for survival.
Today, the vision of sustainability is a priority on the agenda and in strategic planning for the companies within the production chain of the planted tree industry. The concept relies on three pillars: economic, environmental, and social. Aligning financial results, environmental conservation, and the well-being of the population is a prerequisite for the success, development and continuity of the business itself.
The planted tree industry invests to achieve sustainability throughout the production cycle, improving processes and adopting the best environmental practices. The industry is working to diversify the economic uses of planted forests and involve small producers through forest partnership programs in order to create opportunities for employment and generate income, as well as to broaden knowledge by exchanging experiences. This includes adoption of integrated silvopasture systems that combine forests, livestock, and planted crops.
Forest management practices are based on the principle that the goods and services produced must be sustainable, biological diversity must be conserved, and socioeconomic impacts must be positive.
In the search for a clean production cycle, companies in the planted tree industry also are approaching energy self-sufficiency. Consumption of renewable energy sources such as biomass is also growing. The goal is to achieve an increasingly positive environmental balance, which highlights the sector’s contributions to balancing the global climate.
Forest Partnerships
Trees are planted by companies in the sector and through important forest outgrower support programs, which generate social value in areas of Brazil far from large urban centers and also value small producers, helping to reduce the pressure on natural forests and remediate degraded soils. In 2019, approximately 1.6 million people were benefited by outgrower support programs throughout Brazil.
Through these programs, companies establish long-term partnerships with small producers which allow them to participate in the production chain; these producers provide wood from trees planted on their land, and often carry out other activities related to integrated forest/livestock/crop production that reinforce the family income.
By helping keep thousands of people in the country, outgrower support programs also diversify local activities and generate employment and income, contributing to the development of communities where the plantations and industrial units are located.
The companies in the planted tree productive chain invest in a variety of programs in health, education, culture, and quality of life that benefit approximately 6.9 million people, making the sector an important agent of economic and social development in Brazil.