Oct 29, 2009 Sustainable eucalyptus plantation benefits 80 farmer families in Bahia
The Community Planting Program of Bahia Pulp has about 80 families of farmers from small properties in the northern coast of Bahia State. Created in 2007, the partnership between the company and local farmers consists in the eucalyptus planting in degraded areas, with training, technology and forestry inputs subsidies. The wood produced is sold to the company for the production of specialty cellulose. The program aims to permit the inclusion of the community in an economically important activity for the region, generating jobs, income and better life quality.
The eucalyptus plantation is an alternative for farmers, especially in areas already under degradation, which have the exposed soil and susceptible to erosion and it not suitable for planting of short cycle crops such as beans and rice. "For these areas, we offer the Community Planting Program, a sustainable partnership to encourage the jobs generation and the strengthening the economy considering what's the best in the region," says Inácio Amorim, coordinator of the program.
These three years of incentive already helping to create an alternative source of income for producers, thus increasing the wealth generation in the region and availability of wood to Bahia Pulp and the market in general. In the top of that, the planting helps to preserve native forests, reducing the pressure over the native forests and supporting the development of the region.
An eucalyptus plantation, well established in degraded areas, can produce, annually, from three to four times more than the native vegetation. In a growth cycle of six years of planting, it means that small farmers could have 200 to 300 m3 of legally produced timber for energy consumption or for sale in the local market as raw material for charcoal, fence stakes, sawmill, construction etc.
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