Flora from yesterday, today and the future

Try to find a solution to de disease that is drying the branches of the Araucarias; recover the Toromiro (endemic bush of the Eastern Island that is extinct in that area) and help to keep alive a Brazilian musical tradition through the production of bagpipes made out of certified eucalyptus wood. All this and much more is part of the daily job carried out in the nurseries of CMPC.

The nurseries of the company, Carlos Douglas, located in Cabrero, Biobío region, in Chile, and Forestal Celulosa Rio Grandense, located in Guaiba, state of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, in addition to reproduce, care for and store Eucalyptus and/or Radiata Pine (trees with which CMPC obtains cellulose and wood) are also focused on recovering and conserving endemic flora of each country that is in a vulnerable, endangered or extinct state in their natural habitat.

In the case of the Chilean nursery (which has a total area of 164.9 hectares), there are ten native plants that are sought to recover. The Queule, the Chilean Palm, the Larch, the Michay Rojo, the Michay Paposo and the Pitao are some of the species that are part of that project. However, there are four other that have also had a special meaning for the ecosystem and the Chilean culture.

Motivated to recover a totally extinct species in its native habitat, CMPC insisted on replanting on the Easter Island the Toromiro, a shrub that in 1960 ceased to exist after the overexploitation of wood and the insertion of herbivorous animals by the English colony that arrived in Hanga Roa at the end of 1800.

The recovery work began to take place in 2006, when the Botanical Garden of Viña del Mar, located in the Valparaiso region, gave CMPC six specimens of Toromiro to be protected and to carry out preliminary analyses. Under that purpose the company worked together with Universidad Católica de Chile, an alliance that allowed the company to sign an agreement with the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) in 2013 to reintroduce the species on the island and to return to the Rapa Nui culture the tree with which their ancestors made sacred art of.

On the other hand, CMPC created two Areas of High Conservation Value destined to protect two endangered species: Ruil and Adesmia. Both species are taken cared of in Carlos Douglas and then replanted in these areas, thus increasing their populations and preventing them from disappearing from climate change or human actions.

Finally, the Araucaria. This species linked to the Mapuche culture is in a vulnerable state because in Chile, the 81% of it is being dried out. That is why in June CMPC signed an agreement with the Forestry Institute of Chile (Infor) that aims to create a seed storage bank to ensure the genetic variability of the species in the future, which will be developed in the nursery. In addition, the company will provide Infor, within a year and a half, about 30,000 specimens of Araucaria to be planted in areas where they grow better.

In the Carlos Douglas nursery, about 800,000 native and ornamental plants of different species are produced annually. To achieve this number, there are several high-quality processes and technological mechanisms, such as greenhouses with automatic environmental control, mechanized equipment for planting or a unique machine in Chile and Latin America for plant transplantation, imported from Holland and fully automatic.

In addition, the sub-manager of Plant Production of CMPC, Juan Andrés Celhay, said that in the nursery “transgenic plants are not used because the voluntary certifications subscribed by CMPC do not allow the use of genetically modified organism in their plantations “.

In the case of the Brazilian nursery that has an area of 17 hectares, between 2017 and the first semester of 2018 there were produced seedling of 47 native species through a technique called “rescue”.

According to the Environmental Management analyst of CMPC Cellulose Riograndese, Luciana Esber, “we are the only cellulose company in Brazil that adopted this technique.” It consists in transplanting to the nursery seedlings of endemic species that are in the eucalyptus plantations of the company to be treated and taking care of so they can return back to their natural habitat. 

As in Chile, the nursery Forestal Celulosa Riograndense seeks to generate social projects through its work. This is how the “Pipers Factory” initiative was created. With the wood of Eucalyptus trees, bagpipes are made, so this instrument, similar to the accordion, which  forms part of the Gaucho´s culture, and that its musical tradition was on the verge of disappearing because of the high prices in the market, can be preserved.