The Regional Director for Forest Resources stated in Ponta Delgada that forests in the Azores are managed in a sustainable and certified manner, which increasingly attracts private investors.
 
"Our forest is managed in a sustainable way, bearing in mind the respect for biodiversity" as well as for the natural resources of the soil and water, said Anabela Isidoro. The government official spoke on the sidelines of the signing of a contract for the cutting, reforestation and sale of cryptomeria wood between the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry and the company Marques Britas, SA, amounting to 156 thousand Euros.
 
The contract, which was preceded by a public tender, includes a cutting area of 143 hectares and the immediate reforestation and sales of 90% of cut timber, bearing the FSC eco-label, to outside the archipelago.
 
Anabela Isidoro pointed out that the 143 hectares covered by this agreement are located in the municipalities of Nordeste and Ribeira Grande, within the forest perimeter of São Miguel. The government official added that the cuts "never occur in very concentrated forest areas" in order to ensure that "the impact on natural resources are reduced."
 
The Regional Director announced that, this year, the Government will launch a new tender for the exploration and reforesting of an area of about 350 hectares, including the sale of timber, for five years. It is intended to cover 100 hectares/year, as the Regional Government had committed to.
 
"Hence, we give stability to the companies that compete and to those who do business with them," said Anabela Isidoro.
 
Currently, 43 hectares have been reforested in the Azores. There is also an area of 62 hectares under exploration and the volume of cut wood reaches 38 thousand cubic metres.
 
The "Cryptomeria japonica" is one of the most representative species of forest production in the archipelago, generating annual turnover of around 12 million Euros.