Organizations call for stronger action by Federal Prosecutors to combat environmental crimes in the Amazon

Letter sent by the organizations to the Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Higher Council of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office highlights the positive results of the Amazon Task Force, created in August 2018 and disbanded in February this year

Queimada e vista em meio a area de floresta próximo a capital Porto Velho. Foto: Bruno Kelly/Amazonia Real

Fifty-six civil society organizations, including Transparency International – Brazil, WWF-Brazil, Human Rights Watch, Conectas and the Igarapé Institute, sent a letter to the Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Higher Council of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office emphasizing the importance of strengthening the role of the Office in combating environmental crimes and degradation in the Amazon.

The letter expresses the organizations’ concern over the closure of the Amazon Task Force in February this year, with no indication that it will be reinstated or replaced by another structure to combat the illegalities committed in the region. According to the organizations, the measure not only reduces the role of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, but it also strips the Office of a coordinated and strategic action to combat these illegalities that the task force provided. All this against a backdrop of worsening environmental degradation, which can be seen by the increase in deforestation and fires in the Amazon and by the growth of illegal logging and mining.

The organizations also make it clear in the document that environmental crimes not only threaten environmental and social sustainability, but they can also cause economic damage such as restrictions on Brazilian products on the international market, investment flight and difficulties signing trade agreements.

“Now is the time to strengthen the structures that investigate and punish environmental crime, especially at a time when deforestation and fires are at record levels. This is what will put Brazil on the path required by the 21st century and by the challenges of the climate crisis. Otherwise, we will be moving in the opposite direction to the rest of the world, running the risk of seeing the closure of international markets for Brazilian agricultural commodities,” explained Michel Santos, public policy manager at WWF-Brazil.

The letter sent to the prosecution authorities points out that behind the environmental crimes there is also a structure involving organized groups that commit various criminal practices that serve to “support” environmental illegality.

“Environmental crimes in the Amazon do not occur in isolation. They are often associated with illegal acts such as corruption, money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, the formation of militias and murder. Combating environmental crimes is also about promoting public safety, the integrity of institutions and the rule of law itself. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office plays a fundamental role in this and it needs to step up its activities in the region,” said Renato Morgado, environment and climate manager at Transparency International – Brazil.

Recommendations outlined in the letter

The organizations argue that the Amazon Task Force, which has already produced important results tackling the problem (more than 19 operations have been conducted against environmental crimes) should be strengthened instead of being disbanded. However, if the decision not to reinstate the task force is upheld, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office should establish a permanent structure for the Amazon that enables a greater coordination and scale for its work, and be especially dedicated to combating environmental crimes and environmental degradation, while also drawing on the experience of the task force.

“The policy of weakening environmental oversight and protection of indigenous territories, intensified from 2019 onwards, has given the green light for criminal networks that cause environmental destruction, often by committing acts of violence against those who stand in their way. It is alarming that, at such a critical time, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office does not have a structure dedicated to combating illegal deforestation and other environmental crimes,” said Anna Livia Arida, associate director of Human Rights Watch in Brazil.

Irrespective of the institutional format that is chosen, the organizations are asking that the structure has the human and material resources necessary to do its job, including prosecutors working exclusively on the matter. Along the same lines, they reinforce the need to broadly strengthen the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in the region, with more records and prosecutors dedicated to environmental issues and to protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities. Finally, the organizations suggest the maintenance and strengthening of the Office’s initiatives that affect the region, such as the Amazônia Protege [Amazon Protects] project, which innovatively allows lawsuits to be filed on a scale necessary to combat the deforestation in the biome.