BRAZIL — In 2017 a french auctioneer sold a 200-year-old violin bow made by François Xavier Tourte, regarded as the Antonio Stradivari of bow-making, for a record $687,000. Tourte was among the first to make consistent use of a raw material that is still prized today for the best bows: pernambuco, or brazilwood. …And that’s a problem. Logging, urban sprawl and ranching have shrunk Brazil’s Atlantic forest, the tree’s habitat, to an eighth of its former area. …Brazil’s government wants cites to list the trees among the most endangered species, giving them the highest protection. …The proposal has spooked practitioners of Tourte’s craft and the musicians who depend on it. …It should be possible to save both brazilwood and bows. Around 3m trees have been planted since the early 1970s, some with the help of bow-makers. Some of these could be harvested after 30-40 years. [to access the full story an Economist subscription is required]