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“Red as embers, Brazil.” The bright red color of its wood gave its name first to the tree and then to the country. When the first Portuguese conquerors began to explore the tropical forest on the Atlantic coast, they quickly came across a tree whose reddish wood could be used to dye fabrics. These ember-like fibers could create the brilliant scarlet coveted by royalty and aristocrats across half of Europe. The discovery of the Pau Brasil (Palo Brasil, Paubrasilia Echinata) caused a stir and the tree was felled en masse. Those who traded with him were called “Brasileiros”. Now, more than 500 years later, other Brazilians are fighting to revive the species. Among them is Patricia da Rosa, a biologist and botanist at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), who has set out to do a general X-ray of their state to find out how many are left to understand what can be done to save It.
Accompanying her on one of her expeditions is not an easy task. In the Pedra Branca Mountains, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Rosa moves through the jungle like a true explorer: covered from head to toe (safe against mosquitoes, snakes and uncomfortable vines) and wearing a vest full of gadgets, she goes up a steep slope Part of the jungle where he knows there are about thirty specimens. The path is quite imaginary. He is accompanied by a colleague, the biologist Jaílton Costa, who makes his way through the lush vegetation with a machete. Along the way, the two stop and wonder what species this flower belongs to, or comment on how well the shrub has grown since they were last here. After a while, the first warning signs appear: the “companion species”. This is what they call the most common trees that are usually found in the same area where the Pau Brasil grows. One has to be vigilant because if so, it’s possible that the famous vegetable does too, although of course the trail doesn’t always work. Reaching the hot zone, botany does not hide its joy. “What beauty! Look how they’ve grown!” He pulls out his tape measure to measure the trunks and his enormous several meter pair of pruning shears to get to the crown and take some leaf samples for the university herbalist.
Jailton Costa finds in Guaratiba, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an offspring of Pau Brasil, small young trees of young age that show signs of how the species is evolving.Leonardo Carrato
The visit is particularly fruitful because it finds five new trees, barely a few centimeters tall, the so-called “regenerators”. He wraps them in a black cloak so he can measure and photograph them well, then cautiously walks away, hoping they will survive the demanding ascent into the heavens. You will have no additional help: no irrigation, no fences, no signage to prevent accidental entry that could be fatal. It’s better to be discreet and make sure they grow like the thousands of plants that surround them, even though they’re not. Not only because they are threatened with extinction. This small group is also possibly the southernmost in Brazil. Pau Brasil is mainly located on the east coast of the country, between the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Rio de Janeiro, exactly on the coast where colonization began and which is now one of the most densely populated areas in the country. The few remaining specimens grow in the most remote and driest areas of the Atlantic Rainforest, a lush tropical forest biome. They can grow up to 30 meters tall (not to be confused with the small brazilwood plant, used as an ornamental plant in many countries). The Pau Brasil is an imposing tree with a sturdy trunk and tiny leaves. Before the name given to him by the Portuguese, the natives called him Ibirapitanga, since in Tupi-Guarani Ybirá is a tree and Pitanga is red.
Da Rosa already has her samples in her backpack and is happy to have discovered new specimens. She comments that fragmentation is “the great drama of the Atlantic Forest and Pau Brasil”. The remaining specimens are located in very distant pieces of jungle. Bees, the main pollinators, are unable to transport pollen from one population to another, increasing the risk of ‘genetic ruin’. The quality of their genetic material decreases so much that with the sudden appearance of a pest, the invader may win the fight, since the trees are already severely weakened. The lack of genetic renewal is not the only threat that still plagues the species. The times of illegal logging did not remain in the days of caravels, it is a problem even in the 21st century.
Patricia Rosa points to the upper part where she identified a Pau Brasil from the characteristics of the leaves of the species found in Guaratiba in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Leonardo Carrato
From the 17th century, when chemical compounds appeared, wood forging for dyeing took a pause, but then came the fashion for musical instruments. Due to its hardness and the length of its fibers, Pau Brasil is highly valued for making bows for wind instruments such as violins and double basses. The species has been in the red book of Brazilian flora since 1968, but as botanist Haroldo Cavalcante explains, its wood continues to be traded illegally. Cavalcante has been working with this tree for 40 years and is the country’s leading specialist on this species. He is overseeing the work Da Rosa is developing at the Rio Botanical Garden’s National School of Tropical Botany to shed light on the tree’s current situation , and also conducts expeditions to count them in the Espírito Santo state north of Rio. He explains that many slats leave the country as wood from other trees, and that batches of wood said to have been cut decades ago when the tree was unprotected are also legally traded. A lack of controls and traceability makes fraud the norm.
Last year, federal police disbanded an organization that illegally felled specimens of Pau Brasil in a national park and charged 370 million reais ($76 million or €70.6 million) to export their timber. Over the past two years, authorities have seized more than 72,000 batons that were supposed to be illegally leaving Brazil to be turned into delicate bows capable of playing sophisticated notes of classical music. It’s a very lucrative business: in Brazil, the bows are bought for values that usually do not exceed 40 reais ($8) but abroad the bows can cost up to 14,600 reais ($3,000, 2,800 euros). . .
Patricia Rosa uses binoculars to observe the leaves of the trees to identify the Pau Brasil population in Guaratiba in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.Leonardo Carrato
The last census of Pau Brasil was conducted in 2012 and since then there is no updated data. It is not known for certain how many trees are left, but Cavalcante fears his student’s work will not bring good news: “It remains in critical condition. In the last ten years we have seen how many populations have declined, particularly due to being exposed to illegal exploitation (…), the remaining areas are in very small areas and are not protected,” he warns. The main problem right now, he says, is that the illegal trade has increased dramatically after China entered the violin bow market.
Da Rosa is preparing to travel to northeastern Brazil later this year to continue counting trees and plans to complete his study in 2025, which he hopes will help authorities make definitive public Develop guidelines for saving the species. According to him, the priority should be to protect what little is left and try to connect these areas with reforested corridors. The Pau Brasil is already common in nurseries, and in fact it is already widely used as an ornamental tree in streets and squares in cities like Rio de Janeiro. The challenge is to grow in the middle of the jungle where there are many competitors and also many more threats. The young botanist knows very well that Brazilian children hear about this tree for the first time in history class, but she always insists that she does not do archaeological work. “The Pau Brasil tells us about the past, but it also tells us what we will do in the future to preserve the Atlantic Forest,” she assures, already convinced in the car on the way home. Once you’ve arrived, you don’t have to lie down to rest: you have to hurry and put all the leaf samples in the wooden presses before they wither.
Views of the pristine Atlantic Forest that shares territory with the region’s banana plantation. The population of Pau Brasil lives in the jungle of Guaratiba, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Leonardo Carrato