Eucalyptus forest technology:

Will new breakthroughs reinvent the forest products industry?

Fernando de L. G. Bertolucci: Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Fibria Celulose, Brazil,
flb@fibria.com.br
Gabriel Dehon S. P. Rezende: Forest Breeding and Biotechnology Manager, Fibria Celulose, Brazil,
gabriel.rezende@fibria.com.br
Robert C. Sartório: Forest Management and Natural Resources Manager, Fibria Celulose, Brazil,
rcsa@fibria.com.br

Abstract
The remarkable success of the Brazilian forest products industry has never been as threatened as it is
nowadays. Wood costs, our historic key competitive factor, has been increasing during the last decades,
especially due to inflation and currency oscillation. Moreover, climate changes and the growing Asiatic
market, very distant from Brazil, increase the challenges imposed to our competitiveness.
Scaling up production and acting globally are indeed key issues for keeping the Brazilian forest
industry healthy, but we strongly believe that technological innovation is probably the most important driver
to ensure value generation and sustainability.
In this presentation, we intend to discuss the most important pillars for achieving success in the
innovation process management, such as full alignment between business strategy and innovation strategy,
long-term resources availability, and definition of the most attractive project portfolio (e.g. balancing
incremental, radical and disruptive innovation), while properly executing them.
We will also discuss the most promising forest technologies arising from the application of Fibria’s
innovation process. Special attention will be given to alternative breeding and silvicultural practices for
increasing productivity and mitigating climate changes risks. Regarding breeding, we will discuss innovative
approaches such as the use of clonal composites and the evaluation of alternative species in contrasting
environmental conditions. In silviculture, we will present our most recent process based models results as
applied to different climatic scenarios. We will also present how Fibria’s biotechnology strategy fits into the
breeding strategy as a complementary tool. Some important forest biotech approaches, such as genetic
transformation, micropropagation in commercial scale and genome wide selection, will be discussed. Finally,
we will present some views on how forest technology as a whole can contribute to the generation of specific
high-value added raw material, making feasible disruptive forest business such as biofuels and other
bioproducts.

Keywords: innovation, forest technology, breeding, biotechnology, silviculture, biofuels, bioproducts.

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7th International Colloquium on Eucalyptus Pulp, May 26-29, 2015. Vitória, Espirito Santo, Brazil.