In Acre, WFT researchers will encounter a unique situation in which the “other” forest goods and services have been historic priorities over an emerging desire to produce timber on a sustained-yield basis.  Rubber has been exploited on a commercial scale in Acre since the first rubber boom in the late 1800s.  Brazil nuts have also been collected and sold on the international market for decades, and now constitute the major income source for forest dwellers in the eastern portion of the state. Substantial state financing now supports the development of new NTFPs other than rubber and Brazil nuts, including efforts to gather ecological data, develop new NTFP markets, and build extractivist capacity to sustainably harvest these new products.Comparatively little research has been devoted to timber management.  Currently, the wood sector in Acre is small, contributing less than 1% to the state economy and directly employing only about 2000 full time workers (SEFE 2001). 

Nevertheless, high value forests cover 34% of the state and include mahogany and other tropical hardwoods (ZEE 2000c).  Led by a state government that wants to base development on sustainable management of its old-growth forests, Acre is cautiously moving toward greater exploitation of its rich timber resources.  Furthermore, the developing timber industry appears to be incorporating larger issues of forest integrity and social benefits into timber management plans.The legislature recently passed a series of new state forestry laws that detail the government’s intent to concurrently use and conserve the state’s forests.  Local industry has formed a working group, attempting to attain the cooperation necessary to compete with large international timber firms.  Smaller, community-based timber management projects are underway, and almost all of them are pursuing FSC certification. 

The state government is moving to establish state production forests specifically for timber harvest, strategically locating them adjacent to BR364, which is rapidly being paved.  The state and some industrial firms are also taking the first steps to pursue FSC certification.Because Acre is relatively unburdened by either a history of conventional logging or a powerful logging industry, it is poised to develop new timber management models that promote integration of other forest values into forest planning and exploitation.  In Acre, these relevant values include: non-timber products, both those historically exploited in the region and new emerging products; environmental services such as biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration; and social services such as employment and protection of cultural heritage.  Interest in other working forest options, such as ecotourism and fallow forestry, is growing.  Because the timber sector is small and recent in comparison with the other regions, Acre offers a distinctly different context for examining tradeoffs and complementarities between forest management for sustained timber yields and other forest goods and services.  Lessons learned from the other regions, where timber exploitation is more entrenched, may serve to inform improved policies and management in Acre.

Click on the links for Brazilian students and Professors from UFAC and for students and Professors from UF working in Acre