Veracel's lands total 164,600 hectares distributed in ten municipalities in the south of the state of Bahia. Of this total, eucalyptus plantations occupy 78,100 hectares, the equivalent of 47.5% of the total. The major portion (48%) is destined for environmental recovery and preservation and the rest, 4.5%, for infrastructure.

The 52 different soil types in the Veracel region were grouped into six Operating Management Units. Through this division, we are better able to prepare the planting areas, optimize planning and execute forestry activities, reducing impact on the soil.

We created two projects to allow us to improve our management of the impact of our operations on the land. The first is a partnership project with the Federal University of Lavras that establishes bands of humidity for the work of the machines in the field, further refining harvest planning regarding environmental variables. The second project is conducted together with the University of São Paulo, involving the analysis of the outflow and the quality of water from two watersheds of the Santa Cruz River in order to identify the impact that the eucalyptus growing activity has on erosion and surface water run off on the soil.

One of our commitments is to not plant eucalyptus trees in areas where there is Atlantic Forest, based upon an aerial mapping survey conducted in 1995/96.