It is an expression that was born when our country was still a colony of Portugal. “At the beginning of Portuguese exploration, this term was created to designate the wood that could only be felled if the Portuguese Crown authorized it – that is, the cutting depended on permission by law”, says biologist João Batista Baitello, from the Instituto Florestal de São Paulo. Paul. At the time, the first tree to be classified as hardwood was brazilwood, in an attempt to prevent it from being smuggled by Spanish, French and English ships that docked on the country’s coast. Later on, woods such as jatobá and peroba were also included in this category. “After independence, the Crown’s rules ceased to be valid, but the expression continued to be used in everyday life. Today, ‘hardwood’ means wood that is hard, resistant and of high commercial value”, says João Batista. With this broader definition, species such as ipê, mahogany, cedar and rosewood became part of this noble team. One of the secrets to the durability of these trees is that they produce chemical substances in their core that protect the trunk from attack by fungi and insects. Thanks to this protection, a noble species can survive for hundreds of years and be used for various applications, from building houses to the development of musical instruments, passing through the manufacture of super-resistant furniture. However, rampant deforestation has made a good part of the hardwoods practically disappear from the country’s forests. Its use has also become more restricted – the furniture sold today as “mahogany standard”, for example, is actually made with much less resistant wood, only coated with a thin layer of the noble species. Currently, exploitation is controlled: under the environmental crimes law, cutting hardwood without government authorization can lead to up to two years in prison. The hard part is enforcing the rule. It is not news that hardwoods continue to become scarce due to illegal felling.
More durable species are at risk of disappearing from the forests due to predatory cutting
JATOBA
One of the most appreciated characteristics of this species is the resistance to notching – the craftsman can carve and work all the wood without risk of the trunk cracking or splintering. For this reason, jatobá was widely used for the manufacture of furniture. Today, the Amazon and conservation units in the Atlantic Forest guard the last remnants of the species.
PAU-BRASIL
The first hardwood was practically eliminated from the forests during colonial exploitation. Brazilwood is very good for making violins, but the Portuguese were more interested in extracting brasilin, a natural red dye, from it. Today, some replanting actions in Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro are trying a slow rebirth of the species. The effort should only bear fruit in a few decades, because a tree takes up to 30 years to become an adult.
IMBUIA
Originating from the subtropical forests of Paraná and São Paulo, this wood has a dark color due to the action of chemical substances that protect the core of the trunk against infestations of insects and fungi. Widely used in the past for the manufacture of fine furniture, imbuia also began to become rarer in the forests with the increase in exploitation, especially in the 20th century.
ROSEWOOD
Currently, this species, typical of the forests of the northeastern coast, has become so rare that it is sold at a price in gold — small pieces of wood are even used to decorate jewelry. Before the threat of extinction, jacaranda was in great demand for the construction of luxury furniture, decorative pieces and musical instruments.
PEROBA
Almost as decimated as the brazilwood, this heavy and resistant species was widely used for the construction of roofs, floors, furniture and even truck bodies. The species is still found in forests in the interior of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. But as most trees are young, the trunks are too small to be used by industry.
CEDAR
Used in the manufacture of furniture and musical instruments, cedar is a noble wood that is rare by nature. In forests, one tree grows very far from the other – scientists suspect that cedar seeds do not germinate if other plants do not allow them. Today, it is difficult to find seedlings even for scientific research. To make matters worse, the cultivated shoots suffer from a butterfly that impedes the growth of the plant and can even kill it.