CONTEXT
Brazil is the biggest producer, consumer and used to be the biggest exporter of palm hearts. Its production has been made by the predatory extraction of natives palm trees from the Amazon and the Atlantic forest. The Jussara palm tree was the main resource and it is today threatened of extinction.
During the “Rio 92” the countries involved signed a deal establishing that, by the year 2000, all the palm heart imported/exported should be from planted forests and no longer from native ones. That is the reason why Brazil lost a big slice of the market to the Pupunha palm heart cultivated in Equator and Costa Rica with sustainable methods.
Nowadays, even still facing the illegal extraction of the palm heart, Brazil has increased its production of planted palm trees, with a big participation of the Pupunha (about 20% of the whole production).
OPPORTUNITY
In order to produce the Pupunha palm hearts, older trees have to be kept in the land to supply the seeds and the fruits. When they reach older ages, due to its size and the smaller production, they are cut down to open space for younger and stronger palm trees. This process generates a big volume of palm stem, a material similar to the regular wood extracted from trees.
INNOVATION
Fibra Design developed the Pupunha plywood and veneer after studying the production of the palm hearts and the capability of reinserting the palm stems in a new cycle, creating employment in the rural areas of Brazil. The initial stage of the development of the material had the support of Palmito do Frade, ESDI/UERJ and FENAL.
The process of production of the Pupunha plywood was inspired on the Bamboo veneer production. It uses the external parts of the Pupunha stem to create a dense, flexible and resistant material, that can be used in different thickness or as a veneer. Other than that, Pupunha is a beautiful and unique material, because of its high density and the orientation of the fibers. The golden lines contribute to the visual aspect of a material of excellent mechanical properties.
REPERCUSSION
All the characteristics mentioned above, allied to the fact that it is an alternative to deforestation of native woods and the augmentation of the life cycle of the Pupunha, make this incredible material. It stimulates the growth of the palm heart production in Brazil. The Pupunha plywood was granted one of the most important prizes of Design in the world, the iF Gold Material Awards, in 2005.