‘Guanaré’ Forest Plantations on Degraded Grasslands Under Extensive Grazing

The main objectives of the project are wood production, land restoration and carbon sequestration through afforestation. All practices follow FSC standard for sustainable forest management, while enhancing biodiversity conservation by increasing the connectivity of forests and generating income and job opportunities for local communities/ rural areas of Uruguay. The project comprises a total of 18,576 hectares of land previously under extensive grazing by beef cattle, on which forest plantations for obtaining high-value, long-lived timber products and for sequestering large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere were established. The total area affected by the project is 33,225 hectares, if we include buffer zones, grasslands and native forests. Forests were based mainly on Eucalyptus grandis and to a lesser extent Eucalyptus dunnii, Eucalyptus tereticornis and Pinus taeda plantations in 16 to 22-year rotations, managed with pruning (to a minimum height of 12 m) and two to three thinning operations, to obtain knot-free, high-diameter logs suitable for saw-milling and veneering. Plantation is already completed, and forests will be replanted after clear-cut harvest. Guanaré first areas were planted in 2006 and the last ones in 2011. Practices will be compatible with FSC standard for sustainable forest management. Planted forests will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in different carbon pools (living above-ground and below-ground biomass, soil, litter, non-tree vegetation, dead wood and harvested wood products).