O Eucalipto: um século no Brasil (The Eucalypt - Celso Foelkel
O Eucalipto: um século no Brasil (The Eucalypt - Celso Foelkel
O Eucalipto: um século no Brasil (The Eucalypt - Celso Foelkel
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Outro exemplo de peque<strong>no</strong> cultivador de florestas é José Luiz Mauro, de Conceição do<br />
Castelo, <strong>no</strong> Espírito Santo. Proprietário de 350 hectares, planta eucalipto há 15 a<strong>no</strong>s,<br />
incentivado pela Emater.<br />
“Eu fui procurado e eles ofereceram as mudas, não cobravam nada e o que queriam é<br />
que a gente plantasse eucalipto para evitar o corte de mata nativa para lenha”, afirma ele.<br />
Com o tempo, o agricultor descobriu que o eucalipto não apenas supria sua necessidade<br />
de lenha, mas gerava renda. O importante é que o preço da madeira era estável, ao contrário<br />
dos hortifrutigranjeiros, cujo valor oscila sazonalmente.<br />
José Luiz acreditou tanto <strong>no</strong> eucalipto, que quando a<strong>no</strong>s depois foi procurado pelos representantes<br />
de <strong>um</strong>a indústria de celulose, resolveu plantar 200 mil eucaliptos nas áreas<br />
mais altas de suas terras, onde era difícil manejar outras culturas. O agricultor já colheu<br />
<strong>um</strong>a parte do eucalipto, mas pouco, reconhece ele, pois prefere continuar vivendo dos 120<br />
mil pés de café e guardar as árvores para derrubá-las daqui a oito a<strong>no</strong>s. É como <strong>um</strong>a poupança,<br />
explica, e quando forem cortadas estarão “mais fortes e valorizadas <strong>no</strong> mercado”.<br />
E U C A L I P T O E M P E Q U E N A S P R O P R I E D A D E S - E U C A L Y P T S O N S M A L L P R O P E R T I E S<br />
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Substituto da lenha<br />
Firewood substitute from native species<br />
Os eucaliptais permitiram que o <strong>Brasil</strong> se tornasse <strong>um</strong> líder na exportação de mel.<br />
<strong>The</strong> eucalypts plantations allowed Brazil to become a leader in the export of honey.<br />
A<strong>no</strong>ther example of a small forest farmer is José Luiz Mauro, from Conceição do Castelo,<br />
in Espirito Santo state. <strong>The</strong> owner of 350 hectares, he has planted eucalypt for 15<br />
years, encouraged by Emater.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y contacted me offering the seedlings, but they charged <strong>no</strong>thing and what they<br />
wanted was that we plant eucalypt to keep the native forest form being cut for firewood,”<br />
he said. As time went by, the farmer found out that eucalypt didn’t only<br />
supply his need for firewood, but generated income as well. What matters is that wood<br />
price was stable, unlike fruits and vegetables, which have seasonal prices.<br />
José Luiz believed in eucalypts so much that years later, when contacted by a pulp mill’s<br />
representatives, he decided to plant 200,000 eucalypt trees on the higher portion of his<br />
lands, where it was hard to manage other cultures. He has already harvested part of<br />
the eucalypt, but very little, he ack<strong>no</strong>wledges, as he prefers to continue living off of his<br />
120,000 coffee trees and slash the eucalypt in eight years. It is like savings, he explains,<br />
and when they are cut, they will be “stronger and more valuable in the market.”