An unprecedented study, fruit of a public-private partnership between Embrapa Eastern Amazon and the timber group Arboris, followed a full cycle of alternating plantation and logging of quamwood (Schizolobium parahyba var. amazonicum), a tree species that is native to the Amazon and is locally known as paricá, in enrichment planting in degraded forests with little or low productivity in the Brazilian state of Pará. The experiment reveals that, with low investment, it is possible to profit from the regeneration of the forest while aiming at future cycles in sustainable timber management. The validated research results indicated 36% greater economic gains in the areas where regeneration was promoted compared to an area where natural recovery took place after logging under a management system. It is estimated that this plantation methodology can be applied in over 19 million hectares of forests with different levels of degradation in the state, resulting in alternatives for economic and environmental development for the region. The research was conducted in a period of 13 years, between 1995 and 2008, in the Shet farm, located within the city limits of Dom Eliseu, Northeast of Pará, about 450 kilometers away from the capital, Belém. Forest conservation is good business The study has revealed that enrichment planting in logging gaps,which are areas that have been cleared in the forest either due to human action such as deforestation and management or due to natural causes like felling and forest fires, there is great potential for increases in productivity and profitability. Moreover, enrichment planting in logging gaps increases the odds of conserving degraded forests in the Amazon, as per the analyis by the researcher Gustavo Schwartz, one of the people responsible for the work. He explained that the techniques developed in the study not only apply to forests in Pará state but also to the remaining Brazilian Amazon states and other regions with incidence of tropical forest. According to the scientist, the aim of the study was to assess the productivity and the financial profitability of plantation for enrichment in degraded forests. Quamwood was the choice of species because it is native to the region, shows fast growth and is of interest for the timber production chain, especially the laminated wood industry. Low investment with guaranteed profit and environmental preservation Quamwood seeds were planted directly into the soil, in a logging gap area of a degraded forest of 108 hectares (ha) in February 1995. For the sake of comparison, the study used another area of 50 ha in the same farm, in which there was no type of intervention, and natural regeneration took over. Start of research The entrepreneur Marco Siviero reported that he sought Embrapa in the 1990s after reading the corporation's published studies on fast-growth commercially-valuable native forest species, and that on the occasion he had the references of then researcher and current pensioner Jorge Yared, who also participated in the research with quamwood. The partnership resulted in the acquisition of about 10,000 seeds, sown directly into the soil. According to the entrepreneur, the investment in the place was minimal, with some cleaning of the area to facilitate access and plantation. For Siviero, the motivation for the experiment was the understanding that the corporate group of which he is part has a vocation for timber and that only sustainability can ensure the continuity of production activities, aiming at profit and environmental conservation. “Our livelihood lies in the forests and we want them strong to maintain the activity and the environment”, he affirms. The businessman reported that in the laminated wood industry, the activity absorbs trees with a smaller log diameter, which reduces the logging cycle to an average of 12 years, making the activity more lucrative and sustainable. An example of species with smaller diameter is Cecropia spp., which, according to the same study, has proved rather profitable in degraded forests. Results show economic and environmental advantages The study initially aimed at economic analysis through the enrichment of logging gaps, but the environmental component also drew researchers' attention, emphasized the retired researcher Jorge Yared. He recounts that the area used in the experiment offered a series of environmental services. “The area that was planted recorded the maintenance of the main ecosystem and environmental services, such as carbon stock, through accelerated forest growth, the conservation and even regeneration of water resources, lower risk of soil erosion and vulnerability to forest fires, on top of biodiversity, involving forest-linked fauna and flora”, he says An extra R$ 4,500 per hectare The study shows that, out of 10,000 planted seeds, about 3,000 had turned into trees with less than 25 centimeters in diameter after 13 years, which resulted in an average accumulation of three cubic meters (m3) per hectare/year. The researcher Gustavo Schwartz informed that the wood volume calculated for all the trees with 25 cm in diameter was 112.8 m3/ha in the planted area and 94.7 m3/ha in the non-planted area. “Considering the use of the quamwood for laminated wood, the profit, in updated figures, was estimated at R$ 16,862.84/ha in the planted area and R$ 12,380.86/ha in the non-planted area. The difference of R$ 4,481.98/ha is equivalent to a 36.20% higher profit for the area with quamwood plantation in logging gaps”, he detailed, based on the study. Research can open new pathways for environmental legislation An unprecedented study can pave the way to generate financial assets in an area of 19 million hectares in Pará state alone, the authors of the research assess. The scientists explain that this area corresponds to the so-called Arc of Deforestation, which includes forests with different levels of degradation and that currently do not awaken interest from the timber industry and that cannot be used for agriculture or cattle farming. Gustavo Schwartz observes that this significant territorial extension has enormous potential to be reverted into economic and environmental development, and that studies such as the one carried out by Embrapa and the Arboris group provide evidence of new production possibilities in the forest and opens dialogue with the Law to establish sustainable forest management in anthropicized forests (i.e. modified by human action) with different levels of degradation. Currently, according to the Brazilian legislation, forest management depends on the approval of plans by government agencies. The activity is ruled nationwide by Resolution 406/2009 of the National Environmental Council (Conama) and establishes, among other points, the felling of 30 m3 per hectare every 35 years. In Pará, the State Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability (Semas), responsible for the analysis and approval of management plans, has it own legislation, Normative Instruction 5/2015. Both documents establish the possibility of adapting management plans, provided that studies proving economic viability and environmental impact are commissioned, among others. The researchers believe that the study by Embrapa and the Arboris group informs dialogue with the authorities and paves the way to review the legislation and propose new possibilities of management plans for areas that have been underused or unused. As a result, specialists anticipate higher financial gains, social development, provision of environmental services and conservation of native forests. “With the sustainable exploration of previously anthropicized forests, there is reduced pressure on native forests, opening another front of conservation of primary forests in the Amazon”, defends the researcher Gustavo Schwartz. Some research results were published in the international journal Forest Ecology and Management. The paper is authored by the researchers from Embrapa Eastern Amazon Ademir Ruschel, Gustavo Schwartz, and from Embrapa Amapá, José Pereira and Jorge Yares. The other authors are Marco Siviero and Paulo Pereira, from the Arboris Group. Translation: Mariana Medeiros