Products that contribute to the green transition
Forestry in Brazil
Brazil has the world's second largest forest area, with a total of 497.90 million hectares (ha) of forest (58.47% of its territory), which is more than 10 times the entire land area of Sweden (41 million ha). Of this area, 98% or 488.06 million hectares are occupied by natural forests, while only 9.83 million hectares correspond to planted forests (SFB, 2019). But even seen small in relations to the natural forest, the Brazilian forest-based sector is a world leader in wood productivity (wood volume per unit area). Among the most important commodities in the forest sector, we have pulp and paper, wood panels and sawn wood.
It is no secret that the forestry sector faces the challenge of intensifying its production to meet the growing demand for fiber, wood, energy and several other new applications - many part of the green transition to substitute plastics and fossil.
Responding to increased demand in a sustainable way is where fast-growing plantations play an important role for the the global forest market. With its fast growth and ability to bind carbon dioxide, well managed plantations will also play an important role in the green transition. The same goes for effective and sustainable production of wood biomass that substitute fossil fuel.
Forest plantations - one of the best ways to preserve the natural forest
We see the commercial forestry as one of the best ways to preserve the natural forest. That may sound like a contradiction, but the fact is that an efficient and modern forestry that takes place according to both nature's own and the country's laws, is the best way to achieve two important environmental goals in 1) Conserving natural forest and 2) Absorbing carbon dioxide.
The plantations that we source from for supply of wood logs not only contribute to the conservation of the natural forest and absorbing carbon dioxide. Since we focus on fast-growing plantations, like the eucalyptus, this raw material also delivers more volume per hectare during a set time than other more slowly growing forest plantations and thereby also contribute to a speedier green transition from plastic and fossil to wood fibre.
One of the most compelling aspects of fast-growing trees like the eucalyptus is the sustainable nature of this raw material, if planted and managed with the care for environmental aspects. Without deforestation and managed responsibly to avoid ecological imbalances, the eucalyptus plantations provide a fast growing renewable and natural resource that can be sustainably harvested. These plantations also aid in carbon sequestration and are also sometimes used in reforestation projects. And of course none of the plantations that we work with or source from interfere with natural forests.
Wood chips as part of the green transition
Also when it comes to our wood chips supply we see this as a great contribution to the green transition by substituting fossil fuel in multiple industries. Our customers are exchanging their industrial energy supply from fossil fuels to biomass. This change is part of Brazil’s strategy for sustainable production and development. The residues we use comes from either the certified forest plantations we work with or from sawmills in the surroundings of our wood chips facilities.
