Pernambuco and music : A story that's been going on for over 200 years, and could come to an end in 2025!

The pernambuco is an emblematic species, inseparable from the bow, whose habitat is in great danger

Pernambuco, whose scientific name is paubrasilia echinata - in Brazilian, pau brasil, ember wood - grows exclusively in Brazil and has given its name to the country's national tree. It takes its name from its intense red color, used for its dyeing qualities by the textile industry until the early 20th century. 

Pernambuco grows in the Mata Atlantica, the forest along the Atlantic coast from Sao Paulo in the south to the northeast of the country, and not in Amazonia. This forest is remarkable for the diversity of its trees, said to be the largest in the world, with over 100 different species per hectare. But it's in great danger, with barely 10% of its original surface remaining. Protective measures are no match for deforestation, particularly for intensive agriculture - the main cause of the forest's disappearance - urban expansion and industrial projects, and illegal logging.

From the ^16th century to the end of the 17th century,the bow, an essential complement to the violin and its various variants (viola, cello and double bass), constantly evolved both in form and in the types of wood used to make it. Bow makers were constantly on the lookout for the right model and wood species to meet musicians' expectations, and to meet the technical and artistic challenges of the music composed for these instruments. This was particularly true in the second half of the 18th century, when the need for expressiveness and power became ever more pressing, just a few years before the emergence of Romanticism and the creation of the great philharmonic orchestra as we know it today.
At the very end of the 18th century, Parisian bow-maker François Xavier Tourte, in collaboration with the virtuosos who passed through his workshop, developed the bow as it is still played today: a so-called “modern” bow designed and fashioned from the specific qualities of elasticity, suppleness and strength of pernambuco, the red wood then present in France for dyeing.
In less than two decades, this new model of pernambuco bow became the standard and indispensable tool for any quality stringed-instrument player, not only in France but in every other country. 
Archèterie and pernambuco have become inseparable.
It's only right that we should concern ourselves with this emblematic tree, its wood with its unique qualities, and do all we can to preserve what remains of the Mata Atlantica. 

Quality bows, a French specialty

While the violin, invented in Northern Italy and sublimated by Italian masters such as Stradivarius, is essentially Italian, the bow, in its modern form perfected at the very end of the 18th century, is unquestionably French. The Tourte brothers, Dominique Peccatte, Jean-Pierre Marie Persoit, Nicolas Maire, François Nicolas Voirin, Eugène Sartory and the Fétique brothers, to name but a few, made bows that fetched record prices^[1] and still delight musicians today.
The tradition continues into the 21st century. New generations of highly talented bow makers (a significant proportion of whom have been awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France) have taken up the baton, perpetuating the tradition of making top-quality bows that accompany the lives of the most renowned musicians. The reputation of French bow making is worldwide. 

The question of replanted wood

Since 1999, through the IPCI International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative, French bow makers have initiated and financed pernambuco replanting programs in partnership with local associations and governmental organizations in Brazil. These initiatives aim to restore degraded forest areas, but also to promote the rational use of this resource, in conjunction with local development programs. For example, pernambuco is often planted in association with cocoa trees, protecting them by providing the shade they need to grow. At the same time, scientific work has been carried out to improve our knowledge of this essential archaeology species.

In 25 years, these efforts have led to the replanting of over 340,000 trees. This figure is particularly significant when compared with the annual needs of the world's bow makers, which are limited to a few dozen trees (around ^20m3 of lumber). This shows that the profession has for many years been committed to a responsible and sustainable approach to pernambuco preservation.

However, the resource inventories requested in Brazil, like the CITES reports, do not take account of these replanted trees, which are in an administrative void, being considered neither as wild flora nor as replanted. A confusion persists between the general state of the Mata Atlantica forest and available stocks of pernambuco. Yet replanting, thanks to the relatively rapid growth of pernambuco, could offer a sustainable solution.

Is using pernambuco ecologically sustainable?
There is no reason why the pernambuco bow should disappear. The top-of-the-range bow, made by our French master craftsmen whose work transcends the unique qualities of each wooden stick, is indispensable to musicians because it enables them to transmit their musical intentions to their magnificent instruments with unique intensity and subtlety. Made from a small amount of wood, using very little energy, the bow is a durable object. It can be maintained and used for decades or even longer. Bow makers are very small consumers of wood: it is estimated that it takes just one tree to produce a bow maker's lifetime. They are committed to replanting and studying the species. 

The good news is that pernambuco reproduces easily and can be harvested from the age of 40, a rapid cycle for a tree. If the resource is well managed, it is a source of wealth for the local Brazilian economy. Over the past 30 years, Brazilians have set up factories to produce high-quality bows locally. 
But the supply chain needs to be moralized in order to eradicate the rampant illegal trade. As for research into alternative materials, this has been a constant since the birth of bow making, and we need to keep an open mind today more than ever. 

One current challenge may be to use even less pernambuco, concentrating the use of wood solely on top-of-the-range bow making, as we know it in France , as long as we remain uncertain about the legality of the Chinese wood supply chain, where large quantities of bottom-of-the-range bows are made. But we do need to think about the best possible use of each tree cut down, and work on adding value to the wood by avoiding waste, thinking about outlets for second-quality wood, etc. 
Studies, financed by the IPCI, are underway to enable the selection of standing trees, so that only specimens suitable for making quality bows can be harvested. In addition, a great deal of work needs to be done on the issue of traceability from tree to bow. In-depth work is needed to move towards a more sustainable and even more reasoned use of the resource. 

Can these efforts save the Mata Atlantica forest? It's a tricky question: the causes of deforestation in Brazil are many and mainly linked to the development of intensive agriculture and other human activities. Cutting pernambuco is certainly not the main cause. On the other hand, the attention paid to this emblematic species, combined with President Lula's declared desire to preserve Brazil's forest heritage, offers hope of finally halting the massive destruction of this forest. 

With the support of all music industry professionals, bow makers are working to consolidate the work already accomplished through the IPCI and make it more visible and understandable. In France, we are working together to better structure the actions undertaken to protect the bio-diversity of wood species used in instrument making, and to combat deforestation and illegal trafficking. A dedicated association,” Initiative Arbre et Musique”, was launched at the end of 2023.

By reconciling the preservation of wild flora and the rational use of this resource, we can guarantee the future of bow making while protecting this emblematic tree.

Towards possible inclusion in Annex 1 at CoP20 in November 2025
Already put on the table at CoP19 by Brazil, the subject will be on the agenda at CoP20 in November 2025 in Samarkand. The industry fears that the slow progress of the action plan will be opposed and lead to the adoption of Pernambuco's inclusion in Annex 1. This would represent a point of no return for the Archèterie industry and for musical life. Indeed, the CITES Appendix 1 listing of a species is a worldwide ban on trade and border crossings in all forms of wood within 90 days of its adoption.

A number of concrete actions have been taken by professionals to further the action plan adopted. However, a large part of the plan is the responsibility of governments: if countries do not do their part, these efforts will not be sufficient.

The Annex 1 listing and the resulting administrative overload will do nothing to preserve either the Mata Atlantica forest or Pernambuco. It is even to be feared that such a prohibition regime will reinforce the illegal trade.

Bows are durable objects. Musicians use them, buy and sell them, and travel with them. A ban of this kind would mean having to obtain administrative documents waiving the ban for each of the bows already in existence, and for each of the stages mentioned (purchase, sale, restoration, travel, etc.). Bows: an unmanageable administrative burden for the musician
Identifying bows that don't necessarily have distinctive markings or serial numbers is complicated, so issuing permits will be a tricky task, particularly for bows made at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, since it will be necessary to establish, with supporting documents, that the wood from which they are made entered Europe before 2007.

The administrative authorities responsible for issuing permits, whose departments are already under heavy pressure, will find it extremely difficult to process the volume of permits and other certificates that will be required. 
What's more, such an influx of permits will lead to bottlenecks at customs for the documents to be stamped, and complicate musicians' journeys. Indeed, this type of document needs to be stamped at every border crossing, and this can only be done at certain specific points of entry in each country (e.g. in the USA, there are only 18 points of entry).

In such a context, musicians, bow makers and luthiers have only one alternative: to find their activities severely restricted or even blocked, or to go into the illegal sector.
Such decisions would destabilize the musical output of orchestras and other bowed string ensembles, and the ability of musicians to perform in different countries. 

All this will rapidly lead to a reconsideration of the very use of pernambuco bows.

The replacement of pernambuco bows by composite models on musical stages would lead to an impoverishment of the musical art. Why train young musicians in the excellence of a beautiful, subtle sound at conservatories? Why hold orchestral competitions to recruit top musicians? If, in the end, they are forced to produce a simplified, homogenized sound, thus distorting the richness of the music?

For bow makers - already under pressure since the inclusion of pernambuco in Annex 2 in 2007 - this would mean the disappearance of their trade within a generation, due to a lack of access to the raw material, as the stocks of pernambuco built up before 2007 are running out and cannot be renewed. And yet, bow makers are the guarantors of a unique know-how that has been tried and tested for over 250 years.

[^1] An exceptional bow by F.X. Tourte sold at auction for €576,000 in 2016.