low. For example, in one area near the Madeira 
River with an average gross volume per acre of 
over 2.300 cubic feet (14,375 board feet), com- 
mercial species accounted for only 17 percent of the 
volume. These species included andiroba, angelim, 
eastanheira, itatba, louro, magaranduba. piquia, 
quaruba, and sucupira. 
In the Parana pine forests of the South, stands 
with a volume of more than 5,600 cubic feet (35,000 
board feet) per acre have been found, but the aver- 
age volume is fixed roughly at 900 cubic feet (5,600 
board feet). Total volume of Parana pine is claimed 
to be about 11 billion cubic feet (69 billion board feet). 
The growth and wood-producing capacity of Bra- 
zil’s forests are unknown. In the areas of produc- 
tive forest not in use, principally those in the Amazon 
Basin, growth is presumed to balance removal by 
mortality and by the Indians and squatters whose 
wood requirements are generally very limited. Re- 
moval from the forests in use, however, has greatly 
exceeded growth of trees left on cutover areas, 
planted on reforested areas, or restocking abandoned 
agricultural land. 
Total drain on Brazil’s forests is not known, be- 
cause no estimates are available for timber destroyed 
by land clearing, fires, shifting cultivation, or other 
causes. Average annual timber cut in 1956-59 for 
industrial wood and fuelwood is estimated at 3.8 
industrial wood, the rest is removed for fuel. 
billion cubie feet. of which one-fourth comes from 
Only one-sixth of the total cut is for 
Vol- 
ume of timber cut in 1960 (table 5) is about the 
Parana pine. 
same as the 1956-59 average. More than 60 percent 
of the industrial wood, however. is being cut from 
the Parana pine forests, a situation that indicates a 
need for reforestation to insure the future supply for 
the industries using Parana pine and a need for 
investigating the possibilities of expanding their 
supplies and obtaining better utilization. 
Table 5.—Timber cut, by product and species group, Brazil, 1950 
FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES 
Since Brazil’s discovery by Portuguese explorers 
in the 16th century, forests have contributed much 
to the country’s development. The name “Brazil” 
is derived from the wood of the pau brasil, a tree of 
the rain forest of the coastal mountains. 
for this wood became so high that its exploitation 
was made a monopoly of the Portuguese crown. As 
Demand 
settlement spread slowly westward from the coast, 
forest exploitation was essentially primitive and de- 
structive, its purpose to furnish land for agricultural 
crops while supplying the local wood needs for shel- 
ter, fuel, and tools (fig. 20). 
cipal fuel and building material in rural Brazil. 
Forest products industries continue to be im- 
portant in the country’s development. In 1958 
they accounted for 5 percent of the value of Brazil’s 
industrial production. 
a great many small establishments or enterprises, 
Wood is still the prin- 
They are characterized by 
except in the production of pulp and paper which is 
FORESTS AND FOREST INDUSTRIES OF BRAZIL 
727-155 ° 644 
Product Conif- | Broad- | Total 
erous | leaf 
Industrial wood: Million | Million | Million 
Saw logs, veneer logs, and |cubic feet\cubic feet cubic feet 
lopssforstiessgen > ns ae 250. 7 | 154. 3 405. 0 
Pulpwood and pitprops...... 14.1 | 71 | 22, 
Otherpe rece ae hone i ee le leas ae 7 
otal eget teeter re 265.5 | 161.4 426.9 
Fuelwood (including wood for | | 
charcoal) paysine eo mes ee oe 106.2 |2.470.7 | 3, 17729 
otal ecto chee: 971.7 |2, 633.1 | 3,604.8 
| 
dominated by a few large modern plants. Industrial 
development, especially of lumber production, is 
concentrated 
extensive and easily accessible stands of valuable 
in the southern highlands, where 
Parana pine furnish a basis for profitable commercial 
exploitation (fig. 21). 
products has long been important in some areas, 
Collection of nonwood forest 
such as the Amazon forest where in the past the 
value of rubber, nuts, waxes, oils, and other nonwood 
products has exceeded that of the wood products. 
Development of the vast potential timber wealth of 
the Amazon forest has been impeded by the scattered 
occurrence of commercially valuable trees. difficulty 
of transport, remoteness from market, and scarcity 
of labor. 
In 1958, of the total reported value of the output 
of industrial forest products, wood and wood man- 
ufactures, exclusive of furniture and fuelwood, made 
up 43 percent; pulp and paper, including the value 
19 
