In addition to these characteristics, it adapts easily to any type of soil and climate conditions, making eucalyptus an ideal species for planted forests and an alternative to native forests.

Systematic planting began during the first three decades of the 19th century and during the 20th century it was planted more than any other forest species in the world due to the increasing demand of wood for various applications. Currently, there are roughly 700 eucalyptus species in the world. They pertain to the Myrtaceae family – the same as the guava tree, jaboticaba tree and Brazilian cherry tree.

Eucalyptus in Brazil
The first eucalyptus plants were brought to Brazil around 1825 as an ornamental plant for the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro. Later, in 1868, it was planted in Rio Grande do Sul for firewood and windbreaks.

Actual eucalyptus farming started at the beginning of the 20th century. Edmundo Navarro de Andrade, director of the Forestry Services for the São Paulo Railway Company pioneered in the industry. After intensive research on various species he opted for eucalyptus for the production of railways ties and in particular for firewood to feed the boiler of the steam locomotives used at the time.

At the end of the 1930’s, eucalyptus was already planted on a large scale and began to be used as fuel in the steel industry and firewood for domestic stoves - stoves using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) only became popular in Brazil after the war at the end of the 1940's.

Little by little, eucalyptus gained ground as an energy alternative, reducing the pressure on native forests, that were already suffering destruction from the expansion of agriculture and the exploitation of wood. As of the 1960's, it is estimated that the planted area was approximately 400,000 hectares. After that, the scenario changed drastically.

In 1966, the Brazilian government released a tax incentive program to encourage reforestation, in particular eucalyptus and pine. The planting areas multiplied especially in the South and Southeastern regions that at the time were practically devoid of natural forests.