Cofusa has been engaged in planting and forest management since 1989. Eucalyptus Grandis plantations are carried out under sustainable conditions on sandy deep soils in the North East region of Uruguay, where annual rainfall exceeds 1.650 mm (65 inches). Cofusa owns 40.000 hectares of plantations (about 97.000 acres) and together with Urufor they employ more than 600 workers.
THE FOREST
To guarantee the production of high quality wood, the effort begins at the nursery, with the Tree Improvemes.
Nursery
- Capacity to produce 2,500,000 plants per year from clones and seeds from our specially selected trees.
- Own Genetic Improvement Program, in progress since 2001
Plantation
- Reforestation of 100% of the harvested area
-Tillage technology applied to the reforestation process
-Manual planting and fertilization
Forest Management
-Intensive management scheme, with thinning and pruning activities concentrated in the first 5 years of the forests.
-Intense selection and manual pruning of the best trees.
Forest Inventory & Planning
-Permanent measurement of the forest area.
-Growth and production projections tailored to our forest sites.
Harvesting
-Mechanized harvesting
-It is specifically planned in order to quickly obtain harvested products
-Commercial thinning is conducted in order to allow the remaining trees (the best standing trees) boost all their potential. This way, growth is concentrated in few trees which have excellent qualities
-After clear-felling, we obtain logs which are free of knots, more homogeneous and of higher dimensions. Permanent Forest Inventory
Fire-fighting & Prevention
-The Company constantly works to educate the community on the risks of forest fires
-Forest area controlled by watch-towers and planes used to detect fire outbreaks. Most forest companies have joined this initiative
-Heliborne Forest Fire-fighting Brigade and ground brigades
Institutional Video
