Project Portfolio
Forestry
Forests: production, conservation and innovation
The Forestry Portfolio seeks technological solutions to diversify and increase productivity and competitiveness in the planted forest sector, for sustainable conservation and management of natural forests and forest restoration, which are driven by climate change, the energy transition process and by markets for forest goods and services.
Brazil stands out in the international scenario, both for its biodiversity and for the high technological level of its forestry of planted forests, playing a world leadership role in these areas. Therefore, it is essential to make use of these advantages and invest in the numerous opportunities for innovation in the forestry sector.
In that sense, the Forestry Portfolio is structured in response to three major areas:
- Management, production and conservation of natural forests
- Forestry of planted forests, with native and exotic forest species
- Forest restoration
In addition to stimulating research and innovation, the Forestry Portfolio also supports the formulation of public policies and legislation in the forestry area, and participates in and represents various national and international forestry forums.
Photo : Zig Koch
Forest Brazil
Brazil has almost 500 million hectares of forests, with more than 97% of this area being covered by natural vegetation. The biodiversity that is contained in those natural areas is a significant source of forest products and ecosystem services, and has an important role for traditional populations, and life support as a whole. Currently, the country has 1,050 million hectares under federal concession and Sustainable Forest Management that produced 247,000 cubic meters of wood in 2019. Sustainable forest management technologies make it possible to quantify the stocks of timber and non-timber forest resources, learn sustainable use limits, and manage them to produce sustainable goods and services to society, introducing those forest assets into the national and international bioeconomy.
Forest crops, which are mostly composed of species of the genera Eucalyptus and Pinus, contribute 1.3% of the national GDP and 6.9% of the industrial GDP, creating 3.8 million jobs. Brazil is one of the leading producers of cellulose, paper and wood panels in the world and the Brazilian forest-based industry is recognized for its high level of forest technology and productivity. The National Development Plan for Planted Forests established the goal of increasing forest crops by 2 million hectares by 2030. Technological advancements to increase the use of planted forests and wood components, such as lignin, second-generation ethanol, bioplastics, nanofibers and oils, are fundamental to increase the competitiveness of these production chains and the forestry sector as a whole.
On the issue of forest restoration, The Bonn Challenge initiative has set the goal of restoring 150 million hectares by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030, with Brazil committing to 3.42% of this total. Forest fragments that are present in farms are protected by law. It is necessary to promote the environmental adequacy of these properties, combining conservation with economic use. The decade of 2021-2030 has been named the "Decade on Ecosystem Restoration", a period in which the strengthening of restoration actions aimed at conserving biodiversity and mitigating negative effects caused by climate change will be sought at a global level.
Innovation challenges
Photos: Diogo Denardi / Rodolfo Bührer / Katia Pichelli
- Leveraging the market for certified forest biodiversity products in sustainable systems in the various Brazilian biomes.
- Increasing the genetic diversity of the genera Corymbia, Pinus and Eucalyptus to adapt to climate change in the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Pampa biomes.
- Increasing the yield and quality of cultivations of native forest species and of Pinus spp, Eucalyptus spp, Corymbia spp, Khaya spp, Tectona grandis, and Toona ciliata, for the production of wood, fibers, resins and other forest products.
- To develop and promote new uses to wood and non-wood products to expand the market and strengthen the forestry bioeconomy.
- Sustainably managing timber and non-timber products from forest species native to the Central-West, North, Northeast and South regions.
- Promoting the environmental compliance of farms in order to increase biodiversity and restore forest functions, combining conservation and economic use.
- Enabling the conservation and sustainable use of vulnerable and/or endangered native forest species in Brazilian biomes.
- To enable an integration and avaiability of the stock and market information on the native forestry resources, in order to improve the forestry sectors´public policies.
Management Committee
The Portfolio Management Committee works to define innovation challenges and oversee the portfolio of projects.
Chairperson:
- Milton Kanashiro
- Embrapa Eastern Amazon
Executive secretary:
- José Mauro Magalhães Ávila Paz Moreira
- Embrapa Forestry
Partnerships and business
Embrapa's Innovation Model focuses on open innovation, which relies on partnerships since the beginning of each project for the sake of the market insertion of new assets. Find out how to jointly invent with Embrapa technological solutions that add value to business and enable innovation in the agricultural production sector.
Access the web page for the Business and Technology Showcase