A judge in Brazil has imposed fines totaling 4.2 million reais, or $762,000, against two beef producers and three ranchers for deforestation in a protected part of the Amazon Rainforest. The Sept. 4 ruling was in response to illegal cattle ranching in the Jaci Paraná Extractive Reserve in Rondônia state. The companies fined were Frigon and Distriboi, whose slaughterhouses took in cattle raised illegally inside the reserve. Jaci Paraná is designated for sustainable extraction of resources such as latex and fruits, with only local rubber tappers allowed to live in the 197,000-hectare (488,000-acre) reserve. Since 1996, however, some 80% of the reserve has been deforested, largely for cattle pasture; today, an estimated 216,000 head of cattle graze there illegally. Families with legal rights to settle there have been repeatedly threatened and violently ousted from the land. “The slaughterhouses benefited from the illegal exploitation of the area by purchasing cattle raised in the reserve, so they are indirectly responsible for the damage, as they encouraged environmental degradation,” Judge Inês Moreira da Costa wrote in her ruling. She went on to stress the services provided by forests, including climate balance, biodiversity protection, and protecting the water supply. “The law mandates preservation for sustainable use, which did not occur in this case,” she added. In separate ruling, a fourth rancher was fined 21.5 million reais ($3.9 million) for razing an additional 500 hectares (1,235 acres). Environmental fines in Brazil are rarely paid in full, if at all, but recent legal actions targeting slaughterhouses…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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