Nearly 98% Of Deforestation Alerts Aren't Even Investigated In Brazilian Amazon

[hatrack]

The Jair Bolsonaro presidency in Brazil has been marked by loosening regulations and budget cuts for environmental agencies, leading to soaring rates of Amazon destruction since he took office in 2019. Now, a new study quantifies what researchers call the “political negligence” of these policies, finding that nearly 98% of deforestation alerts were not investigated.

Published in March in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the study found that IBAMA, Brazil’s federal environmental protection agency, issued infraction notices or embargoes in response to just 1.3% of deforestation alerts in the Amazon in 2019 and 2020. The study authors call this “worrisome,” given that almost 99% of deforestation alerts in Brazil correspond to some form of environmental violation. The area covered by these alerts represents 6.1% of the total deforested area in the Amazon.

“The government receives alerts of deforestation, yet we don’t see this being transformed into action,” lead author Marcondes Coelho-Junior, from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, told Mongabay by phone. “It’s not a lack of information that’s causing inaction. It’s not like [the government] didn’t know there was deforestation. But due to environmental policy weaknesses, there wasn’t any regulatory action for those alerts.” The Federal Public Ministry imposed enforcement action for 1.15% of Amazon deforestation alerts within the same period — meaning nearly 98% of deforestation alerts were not investigated, according to the findings.

EDIT

The number of fines imposed for environmental violations has also dropped. Infractions issued by IBAMA that were paid fell from an average of 688 per year from 2014 to 2018, to just 44 per year in 2019 and 2020, according to a survey carried out by the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Environmentalists say the drop in infraction notices and fines paid by offenders could incentivize environmental crime. “Criminal networks operate with the sensation of complete liberty, especially in the Amazon region,” Canineu said.

EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/governmet-inaction-sees-98-of-deforestation-alerts-go-unpunished-in-brazil/

[BlueJac]

1. Irresponsible!