Visiting Fellow
Management of non-timber forest products, Indicators of environmental performance
Phone: +61 (0) 2 6125 8150
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: alfredo.fantini@anu.edu.au

Alfredo worked from 1979 to 1983 as a technician at The Santa Catarina Research Station, a branch of the National Sugar Cane Improvement Program of the Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Commerce. A walk through a sugar cane plantation during a hot summer day made him realize that he should go for a higher degree. He graduated in Agronomy in 1987, and two and a half years later completed MS in Plant Breeding. However, just after joining the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina-UFSC, in 1989, he started working with his colleagues on a research project to develop guidelines for managing non-timber forest products from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. In 1995 he moved to Wisconsin-USA, where in 1999 he completed a PhD in Forest Ecology and Management. Back to UFSC, he joined the graduate programs on Plant Genetic Resources and on Agroecosystems.

Professional Activities

The management of non-timber forest products from the Brazilian tropical forest has been one important subject of my research and teaching work at UFSC, which has been done in collaboration with colleagues from the Nucleus of Research on Tropical Forests. The other subject of my interest is the development of conceptual and methodological tools to evaluate environmental performance of humans when using natural resources, a work done in collaboration with colleagues from the Nucleus of Studies on Environmental Monitoring and Appraisal. Some indicators already developed: Indicator of Sustainability in Systems of Interest; Indicator of Regularization of Surfaces Hydrology; Indicator of Life Quality and of Living Conditions; Indicator of the Quality of Water Use. Transdisciplinarity is at the core of my teaching and research work.

Academic Highlights

Selected Publications

D'Agostinti, L.R.; Fantini, A.C. 2005. An Index of Convergence of Priorities in Participatory Planning: indicator of sustainability in systems of interests - ISSI. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural 43(3). [In Portuguese]

D'Agostini, L. R. ; Fantini, A. C. ; Alves, J. M. 2005. Indicator of the Regularization of Surface Hydrology (IRHIS). In: IV Symposium on Riparian Forests. Marechal Cândido Rondon, Brazil. [In Portuguese]

Rocha, A E., Fantini, A.C., Muniz, F.H. 2005. The Conservation of a Riparian Forest as a Strategy of Food-Security in the Community of Morros - MA. Eisforia 2(2) p.1 - 18. [In Portuguese]

Lopes, C.; Shanley, P.; Fantini, A.C. (Org.). 2004. Riches of the Forest: Fruits, Remedies and Handcrafts in Latin America. Jacarta: CIFOR. 141 p.

SIMINSKI, A. ; FANTINI, A. C. 2004. Classification of the Brazilian Mata Atlântica in the Santa Catarina Atlantic C into Successional Stages: adjusting the law to the ecosystem. Revista Floresta e Ambiente 11(1). [In Portuguese]

Fantini, A.C. 2004. Palm Heart: a delicacy from the forest. In: Lopes, C.; Shanley, P.; Fantini, A.C. (Org.). Riches from the Forest: Fruits, Remedies and Handcrafts in Latin America. Jacarta: CIFOR. p. 70-72.

Oliveira, C.L. ; Fantini, A.C. 2003. From Sacred Caw in India to Consecrated Bull in the Amazon: the irresistible ascend of the zebu. Eisforia 1(2): 172-196. [In Portuguese]

Siminsky, A., Fantini, A.C. 2003. Slash and burn agriculture in the Atlantic Coast of Santa Catarina State: co-evolution between the culture and the environment. In: I Simpósio de Etnobiologia e Etnoecologia da Região Sul: Aspectos Humanos da Biodiversidade. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis (electronic media). [In Portuguese]