The forest-based sector in Bahia came together ten years ago to create the Bahian Association of Forest-Based Companies ( Associação Baiana das Empresas de Base Florestal-ABAF ). It was the first step for a new position , which is consolidated every year , and its prime goal is to contribute so that the sector which it represents develops on sustainable bases , whether from an economic , environmental or social point of view . Ten years have passed and ABAF ’ s challenges are even greater , as the institution ’ s president , Sergio Borenstain explained . In addition to enhancing its own activities , arriving at a greater number of locations in a State with such an extensive territory , ABAF will have to be prepared for an expressive expansion in the sector , both with growth in the population and subsequent consumption and the increasingly widespread establishment of new industries . These have principally been transferred from Europe on account of Brazil ’ s natural competitive differentials , which