it began with portuguese interest in the exportation of brazilian wood (pau brasil), and carried all the way through to the rapid urbanization of the last two centuries. so, it was during the first hundred years of portuguese colonization of the country, that they began to take advantage of the wood of the forests, for the construction of houses and boats.

the next step in the process of deforestation came with the boom of sugar cane plantations in the region, known as the 'cane cycle'. this began in the mid-sixteenth century, when a large section of the coastal forests were replaced with sugar plantations.

around two hundred years later, it was the cultivation of coffee beans that led to another huge push of deforestation. this was known as the 'coffee cycle', and was closely followed by the 'cocoa cycle'.