The Planting of the First National Forests in Brazil: Forest Policy and the Emergence of Tropical Forestry in the Nineteenth Century

During the nineteenth century, Rio de Janeiro underwent intense transformation in relation to the conservation and devastation of its green areas. From the 1840s onwards, the first initiatives to conserve forests and rejuvenate degraded areas took place throughout Brazil; these gave rise to a well-structured forest policy and the germinal practice of “tropical forestry.” More than 150 years after the start of successful forest planning in the Tijuca Massif, we are today faced with numerous questions about the role played by the revegetation of degraded areas and ecological restoration in megadiverse countries, in the face of the accelerated and intense challenges typical of the Anthropocene.