RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the first month of operations, Operação Verde Brasil (“Green Brazil Operation”) has reported 112 violations, applying R$36.37 million (US$9 million) in penalties, according to a report released yesterday, September 23rd, by the Ministry of Defense.
The funds are earmarked for the National Treasury.
The penalties have mainly been applied by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) for illegal activities such as strip-mining and illegal mining, deforestation and logging.
The Green Brazil Operation is a government initiative aimed at fighting fires and environmental crimes in the Amazon.
On August 23rd, the federal government decreed the Environmental Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) to increase the number of teams working in the Amazon to fight fires and investigate illegal activities in the affected regions.
Last Friday, September 20th, the GLO was extended until October 24th in border areas, indigenous lands, federal environmental conservation units and other areas within the states of the Legal Amazon.
According to Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva, the GLO has produced a deterrent effect among those committing crimes in the legal Amazon.
“People who were doing something illegal, are vanishing. [The presence of the military and other agents] helps prevent illegal activities and fires,” he says.
In all, a total of 8,170 military personnel and members of municipal, state and federal bodies have been deployed, using 143 vehicles, 12 aircraft, and 87 boats. The result is 28 vehicles seized; 63 people in custody or detained, in addition to the 112 fines.
Burning
According to the report of the Amazon Protection System (CESIPAM), based on data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the number of hotspots in the Amazon forest has totaled 30,901 in August this year.
This number exceeded the 10,421 outbreaks recorded in August last year.
In September, this number dropped to 17,095, below the 24,803 recorded last year and below the historical average of 33,000 outbreaks.
The Legal Amazon consists of the Cerrado (savanna) biome, the most prone to fires at this time of year, and the Pantanal (wetlands).
Source: Agência Brasil