Perceptions of Producers of Small Wooden Objects in Brazil's Central-West Region about Highlighted Attributes of Nine Species from the Caatinga Biome

Brazil has regions where the potential for wood supply is substantial and the lack of knowledge about forest species becomes a possible barrier to its acceptance, as is the case of the wood from the Caatinga biome. This research aims to identify the highlights attributes of wood from this biome in the perception of producers of small wooden objects as a premise for market studies. For this purpose, nine species of this biome were used as study objects for exploratory research with semistructured interviews and use of word cloud and similarity analyses with the IRAMUTEQ software. As a result, it was found that, in the perception of the producers, Caatinga biome species have peculiarities with the “color” aspect of the wood, which is the attribute considered important in adding value to products and, moreover, making it possible to group the woods according to their subjective peculiarities. It was found that a more effective participation of little-known species and an increase in demand due to greater acceptance in the market could enable the use in association with and/or as a replacement for traditional woods. In addition, the analysis of qualitative data with IRAMUTEQ is still incipient in the scientific forestry area; the present research contributes methodologically, demonstrating that its use increases the rigor of the investigation and the identification of prominent attributes of wood species, specifically those of the Caatinga studied, as alternatives for the market beyond firewood and charcoal.