Issues related to the preservation of the environment are becoming a growing concern in society world since at least the 1970s, with the intensification of international debates on these questions. This awareness is linked to the realization that man depends intimately on an environment healthy that guarantees adequate conditions for the maintenance of life at different levels in the present and in the future.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Forest Service undertaken by the São Paulo Railways Company (CPEF) – which was one of the first reforestation projects developed in Brazil – instructed scientist/agronomist Edmundo Navarro de Andrade to research which plant species would best adapt to the environment and the requirements of the company, in order to provide for their fuel needs - to move the locomotives - and also sleepers for laying rails along its railway lines.
As the advance of coffee was destroying forest reserves and the wood needed for locomotives, in addition to the permanent ways being increasingly distant, reforestation became relevant. Therefore, the agronomist Edmundo Navarro de Andrade started the cultivation of eucalyptus, in 1903, in Jundiaí, followed by other projects, which resulted in Hortos Florestais, such as those in Aimorés, in Bauru; Bebedouro, Bela Vista, in Iperó; Good Luck, in Restinga; Brasília, in Cabrália; Rico Creek, in Jaboticabal; Descalvado, Camaquã, in Ipeúna; Guarani, in Pradópolis; Loreto, in Araras; São Carlos, Sumaré, Mogi Mirim, Tatu, in Limeira; and Rio Claro.
Navarro's research in the Forest Service of this particular company became well known in his time, due to the great efficiency and value of his results. In fact, Navarro became a well-known personality both nationally and internationally. He has accumulated several honors in Brazil and abroad, thanks to his research on the acclimatization and usefulness of Eucalyptus (a plant genus he chose as the best for the purpose of his work), became a member of the Academia Paulista de Letras in 1939, secretary of the Business of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Government of São Paulo in 1930, among other important positions. He has published more than a dozen books about his studies – which, if translated from Portuguese, would make him the greatest authority on eucalyptus in the world.
Brazil currently has about 6 million hectares in an area reforested with eucalyptus, which are destined for the production of charcoal for the steel and steel industries. ferroalloys, for the production of cellulose, paper, wood panels and other by-products, such as synthetic fabric, medicine capsules, cleaning products, foods, perfumes and medicines. In rational protection of native forests, the use of solid wood from these forest plantations is growing every day. Although often criticized by public opinion as a threat to natural forests, planted Eucalyptus and Pinus actually fulfill a compensatory role, providing the raw material that would otherwise be obtained from the forests. natural. In addition, eucalyptus are fast-growing trees, with high natural and commercial turnover, as they have several applications and utilities, as Navarro de Andrade had already noted previously.
In a country that has made and still has little regard for its natural forests, the work of a private company to address their needs was an unparalleled example in Brazil and deserves your attention and historical research.
Per Amilson Barbosa
Columnist Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/o-reflorestamento-com-eucalipto-no-brasil.htm
