The IPCI-USA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of Caesalpinia echinata, a Brazilian tree commonly known as Pernambuco or Pau-brasil. The heartwood of this tree has been used in the making of violin bows for over 250 years and is known to bowmakers and musicians alike as pernambuco wood. The tree's native habitat in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has today been reduced to fragments of its original extent and today pernambuco trees are becoming increasingly rare. The IPCI-USA is dedicated to reversing this situation through research, replanting programs, educational outreach and other conservation measures.

Caesalpinia echinata or pernambuco in southern Bahia: flowers, seed pods and rough textured trunk

Click here for important information regarding the June 2007 CITES Appendix II listing for pernambuco...