Can postage stamps reveal Brazil’s forest bioresources?

Abstract

Postage stamps can reveal the communication between different fields of knowledge, transforming elements of nature into emblems for the representation of biodiversity, economic resources, national identity, and the cultural identity of countries. Brazilian philatelic issues that represent timber species express the dialogue between forest resources and the bioeconomy. The historical relationship between man, his territory, and the use of forest resources is established through visual records of the management, use, and valorization of Brazilian timbers over time. This editorial seeks to demonstrate how postage stamps become instruments for publicizing the country’s timber potential and how they disseminate knowledge about the diversity of species of economic interest.

Full Article

Can Postage Stamps Reveal Brazil’s Forest Bioresources?

Adalberto Schweger de Souza Júnior  ,* and João Carlos Ferreira de Melo Júnior 

Postage stamps can reveal the communication between different fields of knowledge, transforming elements of nature into emblems for the representation of biodiversity, economic resources, national identity, and the cultural identity of countries. Brazilian philatelic issues that represent timber species express the dialogue between forest resources and the bioeconomy. The historical relationship between man, his territory, and the use of forest resources is established through visual records of the management, use, and valorization of Brazilian timbers over time. This editorial seeks to demonstrate how postage stamps become instruments for publicizing the country’s timber potential and how they disseminate knowledge about the diversity of species of economic interest.

DOI: 10.15376/biores.21.2.2787-2791

Keywords: Philately; Bioeconomy; Forest resources; Timber species; Palm species

Contact information: Post Graduate Program in Cultural Heritage and Society, University of the Region of Joinville (Univille), Rua Paulo Malschitzki, 10 – Zona Industrial Norte, Joinville, SC 89219-501, Brazil;

* Corresponding author: schwegerjunior@gmail.com

Postage stamps are historical documents that disseminate science in a manner comprehensible to the lay public (Salcedo 2010). Created in England in 1840, the postage stamp aimed to democratize access to the postal service and optimize the entire mail system. Brazil was the second country in the world and the first in the Americas to adopt the postage stamp (Meyer and Meyer 2019). The study of postal themes allows for the interpretation not only of the iconographic preferences of a period, but also of the processes of cultural legitimation, identity valuation, and symbolic representation that permeate the construction of nations in the collective imagination (Martínez and Peregrín 2007). Issues that depict timber tree species and palm trees evidence the country’s botanical richness and can reveal the bioeconomic potential of its forests.

Brazil stands out globally as one of the largest producers of tropical timber and plays a strategic role in the global forest products market (Timber Trade Portal 2019). Among the 60,000 species of timber cataloged worldwide, Brazil is the most biodiverse country, holding approximately 9,000 species (Beech et al. 2017). The representation of timber species and palm trees through stamps reveals the central role of these trees in shaping the country’s ecological and economic identities. Noble woods, recognized for their quality and commercial value, have historically been associated with urban development, exports, and popular art, symbolizing Brazil’s natural and cultural wealth (Alves 2024).

Postal issues can also evidence the tension between economic use and environmental conservation. While tropical timbers are intensively extracted, the discourse of the bioeconomy emphasizes the need for sustainable use and value addition through technological innovation and traditional knowledge (Almeida 2010). Thus, stamps depicting trees can simultaneously express historical memory and ecological perspective, constituting a link between the past and the future of the society-forest relationship.

Brazilian Trees and Palms Represented on Postage Stamps

Trees and palm trees of economic importance are represented on Brazilian postage stamps (Fig. 1). These species are recognized for their added value as forest resources for diverse uses (Table 1).

Approximately 36% of these species are threatened, including the Vulnerable (VU) and Endangered (EN) categories, with emphasis on Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze (Araucariaceae, pine) and Paubrasilia echinata (Lam.) E. Gagnon, H. C. Lima and G.P. Lewis (Fabaceae, Brazilwood). Two species of high bioeconomic relevance, Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl. (Lecythidaceae, Brazil nut tree) and Swietenia macrophylla King (Meliaceae, mahogany), are classified as VU. This reinforces the idea that part of the Brazilian timber resources present in philately belongs to biological groups under increasing conservation risk. Handroanthus albus (Cham.) Mattos (Bignoniaceae, ipe), classified as Least Concern (LC), despite supplying timber of extended historical use (Melo Júnior et al. 2025), is an icon of the national flora, having been designated as the “national symbolic flower.” Its presence on postage stamps reflects its cultural and ecological importance.

The species portrayed on the stamps exhibit a strong concentration of natural distribution in two biomes: Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest. The Amazon is the most represented biome, housing timber species of high economic and socio-environmental value, such as B. excelsa, Hevea brasiliensis Willd. ex A.Juss. Müll.Arg. (Euphorbiaceae, rubber tree), and S. macrophylla. The palm trees Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Arecaceae, açaí palm), Attalea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng. (Arecaceae, babassu palm), and Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae, buriti palm), which are important for the extractivism of fruits and seeds, occur predominantly in the Amazon and the Cerrado. The Atlantic Forest, the second most featured biome, gathers emblematic species at high risk of extinction, such as A. angustifolia and P. echinata. Brazilian postage stamps evidence a diversity of forest bioresources of high economic and sociocultural value, ranging from timber products to non-timber extractive resources. Approximately 64% of the bioresources represented on the stamps are derived from timber extraction; the remaining 36% correspond to non-timber bioresources, including rubber, Brazil nut, açaí pulp, and vegetable oils extracted from babassu and buriti.

Conclusion

Philately is an interdisciplinary field of study capable of providing information about forest species of heightened economic, ecological, and cultural value, integrating the ecological, economic, and historical dimensions of a given country. Postal stamps depicting Brazilian tree species and palm trees help us understand the intertwining of forest bio-resources and economic value as elements that were, or still are, determining factors in the country’s socioeconomic development. Recognizing stamps as practical documents for knowledge dissemination is also recognizing the role of philately as a mediator between nature and society, for the valorization of forests and their bioeconomic potential.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ 308777/2025-5), and Santa Catarina State Research and Innovation Support Foundation (FAPESC 2024TR001918).

References Cited

Almeida, A. N. (2010). “Mercado de madeiras tropicais: Substituição na demanda e implicações para as espécies nobres,” Acta Amazonica 40(3), 505-514.

Alves, R. (2024). “O pau-brasil na formação do Estado nacional: Uma análise histórica,” Almanack 34, 1-18.

Beech, E., Rivers, M., Oldfield, S., and Smith, P. P. (2017). “GlobalTreeSearch: The first complete global database of tree species and country distributions,” Journal of Sustainable Forestry 36(5), 454-489.

BFG. (2021). “Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network,” Taxon 71(1), 178-198.

Brazilian Forest Service (2025). Brazilian Timber Database, Available at https://www.gov.br/florestal. Accessed: October 2025.

Martínez, J. G., and Peregrín, J. M. S. (2007). “La Química a través de sus sellos: una revisión comparativa de la filatelia dedicada a Mendeléiev,” Anales de la Real Sociedad Española de Química 103(1), 50-57.

Melo Júnior, J. C. F., Silva, L. B., Melo, L. E. L., Brandes, A. F. N., Pereira, B. L. C., Callado, C. H., Calderon, C. M. A., Barros, C. F., Carvalho, E. R., Oliveira, G. B., Coelho, H. H. S., Aguiar, L. S. N., et al. (2025). “Cultural woods in Brazil: Historical legacy and future frontiers,” Acta Botan. Brasilica 39, article e20250108.

Meyer, P., and Meyer, M. P. (2019). Catálogo de Selos do Brasil 2019, RHM, São Paulo.

Oliveira, L. F., and Souza, M. D. (2020). “O ipê-amarelo e o simbolismo nacional,” Revista Brasileira de Cultura e Meio Ambiente 8(2), 77-89.

Salcedo, D. A. (2010). A ciência nos selos postais comemorativos brasileiros: 1900-2000. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife.

Timber Trade Portal. (2019). Overview of Timber Sector of Brazil, Available at: https://www.timbertradeportal.com/en/brazil. Accessed: November 2025.

Table 1. Wood and Palm Species on Brazilian Stamps