The forest that covers the Pedra Branca massif, located in Rio de Janeiro, is consisted mostly by secondary forests of different ages who were intensively managed by a specific social group in the past. This is due to the partial logging that occurred by making charcoal, especially among nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and after the abandonment of this activity, it regenerated, leaving, currently, just a few evidences of this past use. In the forest of this massif, which has approximately 12,500 hectares, have been inventoried over 1,000 traces of old charcoal kilns. The objectives of this study were investigate how the ecological succession occurred in the Pedra Branca massif after the charcoal activity and verify the potencial uses of the species that constitute the current forest. In this research, were explored three areas of ancient charcoal-makers, currently covered by secondary forests. These areas have similar ages, same orientation and similar slope steepness. In each of these areas were performed five transects forming a semi-circle oriented to the highest part of the slope, as it is believed that the charcoal makers used to fell trees downhill. The dimensions of each axis being 60 x 5 meters and the total inventoried was 0,45 hectare. Although the three areas have suffered the same last use, forest currently present with floristic and structural resulting quite distinct from each other, but that shows in many respects the preterit action of charcoal-makers in this massif.