Can you provide us with some background about the Veracel project?
The Veracel project was originally launched in 1991 as a forest project. The decision to build the mill was made in 2003, and construction started the same year. The mill became operational in May 2005. It has the capacity to produce 900,000 tonnes of bleached ECF eucalyptus pulp per year, exclusively from sustainable forest plantations using 3,2 million cubic meters of wood.

What is required for sustainable development of your business?
Sustainable development has at least three characteristics: economic, environmental, and social. The key is to keep these things in balance. When Veracel generates a profit, it also generates the resources for reducing environmental impact and improving living standards of the local people.

Environmental performance means creating more value with less ecological impact. It drives us to use our resources in the most productive way. When we avoid, recover or eliminate waste, we become more efficient and more competitive.

In the area of social progress, what activities is Veracel involved with?
We are part of a local society, a Brazilian society, and are therefore serious about ensuring that our actions have a positive impact on the social and economic well-being of local communities.

We are investing 21 million Real (8 million Euros) in education, health, and urban infrastructure improvements that benefit the local communities. We  renovated workers’ housing, several hospitals, and health clinics in the area. We invested in medical equipment plus six mobile dental care clinics. We built, restored and expanded schools. We established an ecological park in nearby Eunápolis, and we support the whale-monitoring program along the coast in Bahia.  

We also maintain a non-profit institute (The Veracel Institute) to support the education and healthcare projects in the surrounding municipalities. We are particularly proud of the education projects “To Be a Child” and “Little Seeds” which benefit 1,350 children between 4 to 15 years old in five local municipalities.

Among other efforts, our company supports the cultivation of honey and piassava in areas close to our plantations. We have trained a group of Pataxó Indians to cultivate certain Atlantic rainforest species. Our intention is that they will establish local plant nurseries and replant their seedlings in natural forest areas. Or, they can use the plants to craft their own art products.

In addition, we support local small producers of door and window frames and of fruit packaging boxes by providing them with eucalyptus at nominal prices.  

What are the main points about the Veracel forest?
Veracel owns 172,982 ha of land in the State of Bahia. We did not convert Atlantic rainforests to eucalyptus plantations. Of our total land 74,440 ha (43%) are eucalyptus plantations. All of our plantations are planted on land previously used basically for pasture.

Plantation areas consist of a mosaic of eucalyptus and native forest formations. Areas that are not a part of the plantations are being rehabilitated to become Atlantic rainforest. This involves planting of over 300 native Atlantic rainforest tree species, primarily endangered hardwoods. Since 1994, more than three million plants have been cultivated for reforestation of natural forests.

In order to maintain the landscape in the municipalities, the maximum share of our plantations is restricted to 15-20% (15% for coastal municipalities and 20% inland) of the land area. Today, our plantations make up approximately 5% of the land area of the ten surrounding municipalities. In order to maintain the landscape in the coastal area, no plantations are established in within 10 km of the Atlantic Ocean.

Economically, we have a competitive advantage with our eucalyptus plantations. Brazil has some of the most productive forests in the world, and Bahia has the most productive in Brazil. The climate here is ideal – warm and sunny, yet with nearly daily rainfall. Here in Bahia, we harvest about 50 cubic meters of wood on average per ha/year – about ten times more than in Finland. A eucalyptus tree in Bahia grows to about 30 meters in length and 20 centimeters diameter in seven years.  

What are the main points of your forest management policy?
My 2,400 forestry workers, and the third parties we work with, know that we are serious about our sustainable forestry policies. These policies were designed to comply with the strict requirements of internationally recognized certification programs.

For example, our plantations are established on unforested sites or lands previously converted for other purposes than tree production. The rights of indigenous peoples are respected by not establishing plantations on their territories. No one has been forced to resettle because of the activities of Veracel.  

We do not plant any invasive tree species that may threaten biological diversity in the surrounding natural forests. Soil and water resources are effectively protected. We leave the logging residue (bark, branches, and tree tops) in the forest. This minimizes the leaching of nutrients from the soil and provides organic material for natural processes. We also use tracked harvesters in order to decrease pressure on the soil.

We also provide a very high level of occupational health and safety for our workers.

Tell us about the Atlantic rainforest program.
The Atlantic coast rainforest, or Mata Atlantica as we call it in Brazil, contains one of the world’s richest ecosystems. At its best, 450 different species of trees can be found in a single hectare.

Unfortunately, this native vegetation has dramatically been reduced over the past decades. Deforestation in this region has taken place mainly since the 1940’s, and particularly in the 1970’s. Forests located on flat or moderate terrain were converted primarily to grasslands for cattle grazing.

The conservation and rehabilitation of the Atlantic rainforest is a nationwide effort. In our nursery, we cultivate seedlings from 300 different species of vegetation that appear naturally in the Atlantic rainforest. In total, we produce about 600,000 seedlings a year. These seedlings are planted in such a way to create mosaic landscapes. We focus on connecting the native forests which grow in scattered patches on our land to develop cohesive corridors for plants and animals.  

How do your plantations impact the local people?
First, our forests provide about 2,400 jobs in the area. Second, by replanting cattle grazing land, we are bringing vegetation back into a deforested area. Thirdly, we are providing opportunities for surrounding landowners, farmers, and entrepreneurs.

This area of Bahia is relatively poor. Other than Veracel, there is no major industry in the area. The median annual income for an adult outside the mill is 4,810 Real (1,845 Euros).  

In 2003, we began a tree farming program for local farmers. When it is fully functioning, our aim is to procure about 20% of our fiber requirements from these private sources. This corresponds to 23,000 ha of eucalyptus planted within the tree farms. We hope to reach our target by 2008.

Veracel provides the eucalyptus cuttings, the technology, and the funding for the farmers. Tree farmers receive an upfront payment from us covering the costs of establishing the plantations. At harvesting time, the payments will be deducted from the income generated by selling the wood.  

Tree farmers have to fulfill all the legal requirements for legal reserves and permanent preservation areas in cases where the land needs to be rehabilitated. The same technical and environmental criteria that we maintain for company plantations apply to tree farms.

What are your goals with regard to forest certification?
Our forest management and harvesting operations are certified by CERFLOR (the Brazilian standard for planted forests) and ISO 14001. Next year, we plan to apply for international certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The CERFLOR standard is very close to the FSC standard.

CERFLOR is now undergoing the endorsement process from the Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC), which is the other international forest certification system commonly used in the world.