Promising results for the exploitation of planted forests in semi-arid have been made by studies sponsored by Embrapa. Two hybrids and seven wood species showed good development in Ceará and will be tested in pre-commercial plantings. It has been four years that the Corporation is evaluating 42 tree species in the City of Acaraú in the Northwest of the state. The research objective is to seek solutions to a problem in the furniture polo in the city of Marco: the great distance between the factories and the major producers of raw materials, which undermines the competitiveness of industry in the region. The Ceará polo is the eighth largest in Brazil in the furniture sector. While the experiment was being conducted, climate and topography of the region conditions constituted the main challenge for researchers. Very strong winds, common in the state, are a problem for planted forests, as the wind causes breakage and topples trees. According to researcher Diva Correia, the project leader, one of the study's findings is that it is not possible plant without windbreaks. "We have had cases of eucalyptus with a broken tip," he said. Another difficulty is the sandy soils and water shortages. "It has been three years of consecutive drought," reminds researcher João Alencar. The study, which had the support of the Northeast Bank of Brazil (BNB) and the Agency for Development of Ceará (Adece), evaluated non-traditional for the activity, exotic, Amazon region wood species, and also eucalyptus clones. Out of the nine species showing good development, four belong to the non-traditional group, three are exotic, and two are hybrids of Eucalyptus. Good development has not been seen in the group of Amazon region. The selected ones will be evaluated in the second stage of the study, in pre-commercial plantings. The furniture polo is hoping to reduce by 30% the production costs, and becoming self-sufficient in raw materials. Without Embrapa recommending the planting, "there are already people encouraged to invest," says the president of the Association of Furniture Industries of the State of Ceará, Júnior Osterno. According to him, business owners are impressed with the robustness of some trees of the experimental area. Eucalyptus reached over 20 meters tall and other species have an average diameter at breast height (DBH) of the trunk over 15 cm. Thus researchers say more studies are needed. The businessman and president of the Associates & Manufacturers of Marco, Leonardo Aguiar, is excited because the project will align investments to the region. He recalls that the cultivation of the species takes about 15 years before the cutoff. One wrong investment in this term can pose great harm. "Embrapa is providing us the identification of the best species because we can not plant any kind of wood, as the crop is slow". Once the first phase of the project was done, which was aimed to identify the most promising materials for the region, Embrapa should plant at least one acre of area for each species selected. The planting will be divided between areas located in the municipalities of Acaraú and Pacajus, where is the experimental station of Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry. In the second part, the ideal spacing is to be determined. "Sometimes what is used in another region may not be the most favorable for this city," says Diva Correia. The project includes assessments of events and management of pest and diseases. Further quality analysis are also provided at the Laboratory of Wood Technology, Embrapa Forestry, and also in industry, to assess whether the material meets the requirements for furniture production. For the researcher, the project should not only benefit the industries of furniture center, but also other activities that demand for biomass energy production. Furthermore, the production of forests in the region to supply industries should help reduce the pressure on native forests. "Another advantage is that this new segment will require trained workers, and thus creating more jobs," she says. She remembers also that the experiment has a "treasure" of information that can be the object of study for researchers and students in the fields of forestry, agronomy and biology. A furniture polo without forest The 28 industries located in Marco consume thousand cubic meters of timber per month. The activity employs 2,480 people in the region. Only behind of agriculture, it is the main generator of jobs in the county of just over 24 000 inhabitants. The activity started in the 1980s, when a group of entrepreneurs was encouraged to produce furniture to meet the demands of a network of stores in the Northeast. Over time, small factories have been consolidated, improved the production process and started to supply other clients, cities and even abroad. Today, although they constituted the eighth largest furniture producer pole of Brazil, industries suffer from a fundamental flaw: the distance from raw material makes the production more expensive and causes companies to lose competitiveness. "They started production differently. It was not a wood-producing region, several factories settled in the area because of stimulation of a business group," explains Diva Correia. In search of the Green Seal Another important advantage to find tree species adapted to the region is the possibility of obtaining a seal of sustainability. The certification of use of reforested wood for the furniture polo products is one of the objectives of the entrepreneurs from the sector. The president of the Association of Furniture Industries of the State of Ceará, Júnior Osterno, believes that this should be a market differentiator that can increase business. "We will have quality with an ecological bias because this wood is basically the same of the ones coming from the producing regions, we are only adapting to our environment. Therefore, we have no problem," he said. According to him, companies of the Ceará polo already have a standard of quality able to compete with any producing region of Brazil. For Júnior Osterno, the sector still has much space to grow. He says that 20% of the furniture consumed today in the state of Ceará are from the furniture polo of Ceará. "Eight years ago, the region supplied only 12% of the market," he said.