• Agro
  • Civil Society
  • Disinformation
  • Exploitation & Control
  • Forests & Land Use
  • Geopolitics
  • Indigenous & Traditional Communities
  • Oil
  • Research
  • Violence
  • Water & Sanitation
  • Stakeholders
US announces R$ 2.5 billion donation to the Amazon Fund

President Lula meets with US President Joe Biden

Credit: Ricardo Stuckert/PR

24 Apr 23

US announces R$ 2.5 billion donation to the Amazon Fund

The United States announced on April 23th that it will donate R$2.5 billion to the Amazon Fund, a multi-donor fund that supports sustainable development and climate action in the Amazon Rainforest. The donation is the largest single contribution to the fund and comes at a time when the Amazon faces unprecedented threats from deforestation, climate change, and fires.

The U.S. donation will be used to support a variety of projects in the Amazon, including: reducing deforestation and forest degradation; protecting indigenous peoples and their rights; promoting sustainable development; and fighting climate change.

Sources:
Forest fires rates drop in the first two months of 2023, but Amazon accounts for 90% of them, study says

There was a reduction of 213 thousand hectares of land burned in the period

Credit: Edilson Rodrigues/Agência Senado

19 Apr 23

Forest fires rates drop in the first two months of 2023, but Amazon accounts for 90% of them, study says

The number of fire spots in Brazil fell 28% in the first two months of this year in relation to the same period in 2022, according to data from the Fire Monitor, of MapBiomas. 90% of the fires occurred in the Amazon, which represents 487,000 hectares. Roraima was the state that registered the most fires, accounting for 48% of the total, followed by Mato Grosso and Pará. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) registered more hot spots in the first quarter of this year in the Amazon than in 2022, but below the historical average.

Sources:
Lula reaffirms that Brazil will meet zero deforestation goal in the Amazon by 2030

Deforestation in the Amazon sky-rocketed during Bolsonaro administration

Credit: Nilmar Lage / Greenpeace

12 Apr 23

Lula reaffirms that Brazil will meet zero deforestation goal in the Amazon by 2030

During the ministerial meeting in which he presented the results of the first 100 days of government, President Lula said that Brazil will meet the goal of zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 and that the federal government will fight devastation in all Brazilian biomes. The commitment to zero deforestation in the Amazon was made by Lula during his presidential campaign last year and reaffirmed at his inauguration ceremony in January. However, the president warned that the task will not be easy, since the country’s environmental policy was dismantled during the four years of the previous government.

Since mid-January, the federal government has resumed operations to inspect and fight deforestation in the Amazon, resulting in a 219% increase in the number of fines for deforestation and other infractions in the Amazon region in the first quarter, compared to the average of the previous four years. The intensification of the fight against the devastation of the Amazon forest brought an 11% drop in deforestation in the region in the first quarter of this year, compared to 2022, but experts point out that more rigorous enforcement and fewer concessions to agribusiness are still needed to meet the goal of zero deforestation by 2030.

Sources:
Plan to achieve "zero deforestation" is presented by Lula administration

The new PPCDAm aims at curbing illegal gold mining

Credit: Amapá State Government

12 Apr 23

Plan to achieve “zero deforestation” is presented by Lula administration

The federal government has placed on public consultation the fifth phase of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), created in the first Lula administration (2002-2006), which aims to stimulate the sustainable development of the Amazon. For the first time, the plan proposes to fight illegal mining, which is causing a humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Land and threatening dozens of other indigenous territories. Another proposal is to strengthen credit for sustainable activities and veto it for irregular producers.

The Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon was shelved by the administration of Jair Bolsonaro, who centralized the responsibility for the forest in the Amazon Council headed by Hamilton Mourão, then Vice-President. The PPCDAm was responsible for reducing deforestation in the Amazon by 83% between 2004 and 2012. The current plan has the goal of zero illegal deforestation by 2030 and the new text can receive suggestions from people or organizations until April 26th.

 

Sources:
Fines for environmental crimes in the Amazon increase 200% in three months

Deforested areas close to the Mura indigenous land

Credit: Alberto César Araújo/Amazônia Real

8 Apr 23

Fines for environmental crimes in the Amazon increase 200% in three months

According to Ibama data, the number of fines for deforestation and other infractions in the Amazon region increased more than 200% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the average for the same period in the years 2019 to 2022. The seizures of goods and products related to environmental infractions rose 133%, while the number of property embargoes grew 93% in the same period.

In operations against invaders of the Yanomami indigenous territory, Ibama destroyed 285 miners’ camps, eight aircraft, 23 boats, three tractors and more than 100 engines, in addition to having seized 21 thousand liters of fuel and logistical support equipment for illegal mining. In Brazil as a whole, Ibama’s environmental notifications increased 78% from January to March this year, in comparison to the same period in the four previous years.

Sources:
Deforestation in the first trimester sets a record in the Cerrado and has the second worst rate in the Amazon

Studies estimate that river flow in the Cerrado biome will drop 34% by 2050 because of deforestation

Credit: José Cícero/Agência Pública

7 Apr 23

Deforestation in the first trimester sets a record in the Cerrado and has the second worst rate in the Amazon

Deforestation in the Brazilian Cerrado biome reached the highest value ever recorded for the first quarter of the year since the beginning of the historical series, in 2015, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe). The biome lost 909 km² of native vegetation between January and March 2023, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year. In the Amazon, deforestation in the first quarter was also alarming, with 1,545 km², the second worst rate for the period since 2015.

Sources:
Supreeme Court justice suspends 'good faith' to certify origin of gold sold in Brazil

Federal Police operation fighting illegal gold mining

Credit: Federal Police/Handout

5 Apr 23

Supreeme Court justice suspends ‘good faith’ to certify origin of gold sold in Brazil

The justice of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Gilmar Mendes, suspended a section of Law 12,844/2013 that provides for the presumed legality of gold sold in Brazil, as well as the “good faith” of buyers of the metal. The decision was made after a request made by the Green Party (PV) in a direct action of unconstitutionality, arguing that the rule makes private monitoring unfeasible by disempowering the buyer and encouraging the illegal market. In addition to suspending the section of the law that deals with the matter, the justice gave the federal government 90 days to adopt a new regulatory framework for monitoring the gold trade.

The decision by Gilmar Mendes took into account the manifestation of various supervisory agencies of the gold trade in Brazil, such as the National Mining Agency (ANM) and the Central Bank (BC). The magistrate granted the injunction after the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, expressed himself for the overturning of the rule that provided for the presumed legality of gold and the good faith of buyers. The minister justified the urgency of the injunction in view of the environmental and humanitarian damage and the increase in generalized criminality caused by illegal mining. The decision will be submitted to the referendum of the STF plenary in virtual plenary as soon as possible.

FUNAI asks for the suspension if mining concessions that threaten indigenous lands in the Amazon

The number of concession requests that overlap with indigenous lands exploded during the Bolsonaro government.

Crédito: OPI

29 Mar 23

FUNAI asks for the suspension if mining concessions that threaten indigenous lands in the Amazon

The National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI) has requested the National Mining Agency (ANM) to suspend the 6th Round of Area Availability for mining in the Amazon. In the letter sent on March 20, Funai warned about the proximity of some concessions to indigenous lands and asked that the authorization for mining activity should not affect these territories.

The 6th Round, which offers 420 mining areas throughout Brazil, was launched in September 2022 by the Bolsonaro government and follows the schedule available on the agency’s website. The Observatory of Human Rights of Isolated and Newly-Contacted Indigenous Peoples (Opi) had warned about the possible impacts of the concessions, especially in the Yanomami Indigenous Lands in Roraima, Piripkura in Mato Grosso, and Uru Eu Wau Wau in Rondônia, where people live in voluntary isolation.

 

Sources:
Bruno and Dom: Crime mastermind is suspect of having ordered public servant murder in 2019

The Temporary Commission on Crime in the Northern Region (CTENORTE), formed by congressmen and representatives of federal agencies, meets with leaders of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (Univaja). On the wall is a photo of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira.

Credit: Roberto Stuckert Filho/Gab. Senador Humberto Costa

21 Mar 23

Bruno and Dom: Crime mastermind is suspect of having ordered public servant murder in 2019

The Federal Police is investigating the possible participation of Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, known as Colombia, in the death of Maxciel Pereira dos Santos, a FUNAI [Brazilian indigenous peoples agency] employee, in Tabatinga (AM), in September 2019. He is already suspected of having been the mastermind of the deaths of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira, last year.

Investigations are trying to assess whether Colombia hired the gunmen to kill the FUNAI employee. The line of investigation is that they would have crossed the triple border with neighboring countries to commit the crime at the behest of Colombia. No suspects have yet been arrested for the crimes.

The investigation was reopened in September 2021, three months after Bruno and Dom’s deaths, and is under secrecy. The police team found several coincidences between the group accused of the double murder and the attack on Maxciel, who worked alongside Bruno in the fight against illegal fishing and mining in Vale do Javari in 2019. According to the. In the past, the police had suggested the archiving of the investigations, but the Federal Public Prosecutor was against it and the investigation was resumed after pressure from Maxciel’s relatives and the international repercussion of Bruno and Dom’s deaths.

Sources:
Environment Minister defends that Petrobras "cannot continue being an oil company"

Marina Silva walks with the indigenous yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa

Credit: Felipe Werneck/Ministério Do Meio Ambiente

13 Mar 23

Environment Minister defends that Petrobras “cannot continue being an oil company”

Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, spoke in an interview about controversial topics such as fossil fuel exploration in the Amazon and the renewal of the operating license for the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant on the Xingu River. Marina declared that, in her personal opinion, Petrobras cannot continue being an oil company, because it needs to make the transition to renewable energies.

She also referred to Belo Monte as a “trauma,” acknowledging the damage done to local populations and the environment, and expressed concern about the current state of the ministry, which has been significantly undersized and undermined during Jair Bolsonaro’s tenure.

 

Sources:
Extreme weather leaves Manaus with eight dead and a trail of destruction

Public officials help those affected by the floods

Credit: Márcio Melo / Seminf

12 Mar 23

Extreme weather leaves Manaus with eight dead and a trail of destruction

A landslide in Manaus, Amazonas state capital, last Sunday (12) hit 11 houses in the Jorge Teixeira neighborhood, in the east of the city, which caused eight deaths. The tragedy caused by heavy rains led Mayor David Almeida to declare a state of public calamity.

According to a study by the collaborative network of NGOs MapBiomas, Manaus is the city with the largest expansion of urbanized areas in precarious settlements in Brazil. The study points out that the region where the tragedy occurred was not registered as a risk area, although it was within a precarious settlement delimited by IBGE.

MapBiomas highlights that human actions have caused major changes in the environment, which led to extreme concern among scholars and environmental defenders. Since 1985, urban occupation in risk areas in Manaus has increased by about 1,319 hectares, equivalent to 10,000 football fields. Manaus concentrates more than 36% of all risk area occupation in the state.

Sources:
More than 19,000 illegal gold miners have been removed from the Yanomami indigenous territory.

Illegal gold miner searches for gold at Uraricouera River, inside Yanomami territory

Credit: Bruno Kelly/Amazônia Real

8 Mar 23

More than 19,000 illegal gold miners have been removed from the Yanomami indigenous territory.

The temporary commission of the Brazilian Federal Senate to monitor the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami Indigenous Land approved its work plan last Wednesday (8/3). According to the rapporteur of the commission, Senator Dr. Hiran (Progressistas-RR), more than 19,000 gold miners have left the area since the eviction operation began last February. The president of IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental agency, Rodrigo Agostinho, also supports this: “We have removed almost 80%, 90% of the gold miners.”

The Senate commission also requested information on the funds released by the Amazon Fund and invited indigenous and environmental organizations for public hearings. Meanwhile, federal forces continue anti-gold mining actions and have already applied penalties of over R$10 million.

Sources:
Marina Silva visits base attacked by gold miners in Yanomami Land and cites 'immense degradation' in the territory

Ibama helicopters in operation against miners in Yanomami Land

Credit: G1

4 Mar 23

Marina Silva visits base attacked by gold miners in Yanomami Land and cites ‘immense degradation’ in the territory

The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, visited Yanomami Land on Saturday (4) to see firsthand the actions implemented by IBAMA to curb illegal gold mining. She went to the inspection base in the Palimiú community, where armed gold miners fired at agents, and flew over regions invaded by the garimpeiros. She was astonished by what she saw in the territory: “The degradation is immeasurable,” she said.

Sources:

G1

Amidst climate collapse, Brazil's agricultural and livestock GDP is expected to drop 1.7% in 2022, driven by soybeans

Soybean crops in Mato Grosso state

Crédito: Pedro Biondi

3 Mar 23

Amidst climate collapse, Brazil’s agricultural and livestock GDP is expected to drop 1.7% in 2022, driven by soybeans

The Brazilian agriculture and cattle-raising sector ended 2022 with a retraction of 1.7% when compared to 2021. The information is from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which released on Thursday (2) the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for the 4th quarter and for the whole of last year.

“Soy, the main product of Brazilian farming, with an estimated drop in production of 11.4%, was the one that most pulled down the result of Farming in the year, being impacted by adverse weather effects,” explained Rebeca Palis, coordinator of National Accounts at IBGE, in a note.

A study published in Nature magazine proved a clear correlation between deforestation and reduction in rainfall. The researchers found that as more and more forest is removed from tropical areas, the less local farmers will have rain for their crops and pastures. The article raises fears that the degradation of the Amazon is reaching a critical point, after which the rainforest will no longer be able to generate its own rain and the vegetation will dry up.

 

Sources:
Yanomami Genocide: Illegal gold scheme involves millionaire companies accused of environmental crime and money laundering in Pará state

Illegal gold miner searches for gold at Uraricouera River, inside Yanomami territory

Credit: Bruno Kelly/Amazônia Real

3 Mar 23

Yanomami Genocide: Illegal gold scheme involves millionaire companies accused of environmental crime and money laundering in Pará state

A joint investigation by the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecution revealed that financial institutions accused of environmental crimes in the Amazon and gold laundering in Pará state bought illegal Yanomami gold, according to a story in Reporter Brasil. Companies with million-dollar billings and headquarters in prime neighborhoods of the São Paulo capital are accused of participating in a scheme that may have legalized, in 2019 and 2020, more than 4 tons of illegal gold from several indigenous lands in the Amazon, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office. Three of these intermediaries – Ourominas, FD’Gold and Carol – appear in the investigations into mining on Yanomami Indigenous Land.

As a result of these investigations, the Federal Police launched on Tuesday (February 28) “Operation Kukuanaland”, which aims to identify and dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to the illegal extraction of gold from indigenous reserves and federal conservation units, to its commercialization, export and money laundering.

Sources:
Yanomami Genocide: Pro-mining Senator caught with money in his underwear to preside special committee

Senator Chico Rodrigues (PSB-RR)

Credit: Roque de Sá/Agência Senado

16 Feb 23

Yanomami Genocide: Pro-mining Senator caught with money in his underwear to preside special committee

Senator Chico Rodrigues (PSB) was elected president of the Temporary Committee to monitor the situation of the Yanomami in the Senate on Wednesday (15). In October 2020, the senator gained national attention after being caught with R$ 33,000 hidden in his underwear during a police operation investigating an alleged criminal scheme of diverting public resources to combat Covid-19 in the state of Roraima. In the same operation, a stone that may be a gold nugget was found in the safe in the senator’s room.

Chico Rodrigues has previously declared his support for mining and has advocated for the legalization of the activity on indigenous lands, in addition to requesting the creation of a bill to regulate mining.

Sources:

G1

Yanomami Genocide: Federal Police conducts operation against illegal mining on indigenous land; suspects moved R$ 422 million in 5 years

Diamonds found at a suspect’s house

Credit: Federal Police

14 Feb 23

Yanomami Genocide: Federal Police conducts operation against illegal mining on indigenous land; suspects moved R$ 422 million in 5 years

On Tuesday (14), the Federal Police started an operation to fight illegal mining on the Yanomami Indigenous Land in Roraima. The suspects include businessmen, lawyers, and a municipal government employee from Boa Vista, capital of the state of Roraima, who allegedly moved about R$ 422 million in five years. The money was transported by land to Roraima, while the gold was taken by aircraft.

Sources:

G1

Deforestation in the Amazon drops 61% in January, but Cerrado saw only a 10% decline

Deforestation in the Cerrado causes concerns for environmentalists and tradicional populations

Credit: Marcos Vergueiro/Secom-MT

10 Feb 23

Deforestation in the Amazon drops 61% in January, but Cerrado saw only a 10% decline

Deforestation in the Legal Amazon region showed a reduction of 61% in January 2023, compared to the same period last year, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The total deforested area in the region was 167 km², compared to 430 km² in January 2022.

On the other hand, deforestation in the Brazilian Cerrado more than doubled compared to the Amazon, reaching 441.85 km² in January. The deforested Cerrado area saw a 10% decline compared to the same period last year, when the figure was 491.64 km². Nevertheless, the deforested area is larger than the entire city of Curitiba – the capital of Paraná state -, which covers 434.892 km².

Sources:
Bolsonaro's Ministry of Environment gave up on defending 8 million hectares in the Amazon, Pantanal, and Cerrado

Number of conservation units created per government

Crédito: Júlia Coelho/The Intercept Brasil

8 Feb 23

Bolsonaro’s Ministry of Environment gave up on defending 8 million hectares in the Amazon, Pantanal, and Cerrado

During Ricardo Salles’ tenure as Minister of Environment in the Bolsonaro administration, the Ministry of the Environment decided to abandon the creation of protected areas in 167 federal lands, without making a fuzz or consulting technical staff. These areas are located in the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal regions, covering eight Brazilian states across three regions of the country, including the states of Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Roraima, Rondônia, Tocantins, Maranhão, and Mato Grosso.

Furthermore, on October 29, 2020, the ministry announced that it “has no interest in acquiring new areas for the creation of conservation units.” The decision was made without considering the concerns previously expressed by the ministry’s technical staff regarding these areas, according to an investigation by The Intercept Brasil.

However, there are at least 39 areas that should not have been discarded, according to ICMBio’s own technicians. These are large, well-preserved forest masses, totaling more than 8 million hectares – almost twice the size of the state of Rio de Janeiro – and are located in the states of Mato Grosso (16), Amazonas (10), Pará (9), Rondônia (2), and Roraima (2).

Sources:
Supreme Court orders the investigation of Bolsonaro administration officials for genocide

Justice Rosa Weber presiding over a Supreme Court session

Credit: Carlos Moura/SCO/STF

30 Jan 23

Supreme Court orders the investigation of Bolsonaro administration officials for genocide

Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered on Monday (30) the investigation of possible participation of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government officials in the practice of crimes of genocide, disobedience and breach of judicial secrecy related to the security of indigenous communities.

The decision was made after the minister received information about the situation faced by the Yanomami community, which is suffering from a humanitarian crisis in Roraima and Amazon states.

Sources:

UOL

306 news

Link successfully copied!