Many of my 4 year old Spanish Cedar trees (cedros) are already 20cm (8") diameter at chest height and ~15m tall. Planting hardwood trees in the tropics is one of the best long term investments you can make, especially if you plan to have furniture etc made with the wood. Some types of trees are ready to harvest in 5 years, others in 10, others in 20, others in 40+ (for your kids)
I've planted about 30 hectares so far, will do another 15ha this year. To keep maintenance costs down, you can plant them in contour rows along with closely spaced leguminous trees like inga edulus to shade out the weeds below.
Selecting trees that are hardy against insects when they are young is a good way to go (cedros and mahogany are not, need spraying..) I'm not a fan of teak, eucalyptus or pine being planted in the Amazon, I think fast growing native species are best.
If you do the math, the numbers are really good. And it's good for the animals. And climate.