Economia verde, sustentabilidade e as plantas úteis do Brasil: contribuição do agrônomo/ naturalista mineiro Camilo de Assis Fonseca Filho

Abstract

Trees remain an important source of new potentialities, especially when considering their production of bioactive substances, which can be used for the development of commercial products. Brazilian flora has already contributed with relevant examples of these substances, but almost all the products which generated patents, and which are marketed, are abroad. Moreover, Brazil’s native vegetation has suffered, throughout the centuries, from an intensively destructive process, due to the successive economic impacts brought about by different activities. This process has led to the disappearance of economically potential, native species, and to the traditional knowledge associated with Arquivos do Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico v. 23, n. 2, 2014.167Arquivos do Museu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico v. 23, n. 2, 2014. 169 them as well. Nowadays, actions which contribute to adding value to Brazil’s native trees have been prioritized, because, in addition to the possibility of generating income, such actions lead to the preservation of the plants themselves. This approach was already championed in the 1950s by the agronomist naturalist Camilo de Assis Fonseca Filho. Besides producing a work full of information on how useful plants are, he was responsible for the creation of the largest forested area in the capital of Minas Gerais: the woods of theMuseum of Natural History and Botanical Gardens of the FederalUniversity of Minas Gerais (MHNJB-UFMG). In this study, Assis-Filho’s work was revisited and his ideas discussed under the light ofcurrent knowledge.