If you are caught cutting down the Amazon Rainforest illegally, chances are you will get off without being required to pay for the environmental damage. According to a recent report, only 5% of offenders have paid court-ordered fines for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
Researchers at Imazon, a Brazilian environmental research nonprofit, analyzed more than 3,500 lawsuits filed by Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office between 2017 and 2020.
The lawsuits alleged that more than 265,000 hectares (655,000 acres) of rainforest, an area three times the size of New York City, were destroyed before or during the three years analyzed.
“Getting criminals to pay for illegal deforestation in the Amazon and repair the damage is one of the biggest challenges for the environmental justice system in Brazil,” the authors wrote in the report. “Despite progress in punishments, enforcement remains very low.”
Among the lawsuits that reached a decision, 640 resulted in convictions for deforestation. The courts ordered offenders to pay 252 million reais ($43.4 million) in environmental compensation and civil penalties.
But as of December 2023, 37 convicted offenders had paid just 652,300 reais ($112,000) toward damages; that’s 0.2 percent of the amount owed. An additional 560,000 reais ($96,400) will be paid in installments. Prosecutors initially calculated the damage caused by the illegal deforestation at 4.6 billion reais ($792 million).
Many cases were dismissed either because a defendant could not be found or because judges in lower courts would not allow satellite imagery to be admitted as evidence, although Brazil’s top courts do recognize it as valid and have overturned such rulings. Prosecutors filed 788 lawsuits against “unknown defendants,” primarily to restrict access to the area to prevent future activities and land claims and enable officials to seize machinery used for deforestation. However, if no individual is identified, the courts will eventually dismiss the cases.
The report also found that compensation decisions by judges varied greatly, many handed out huge reductions in damage claims, up to 90%, or dismissed the fines entirely. Other judges argued that imposing fines would act as a “double punishment” if the defendant was already obligated to recover the deforested area.
“Reparations via the legal system are essential to ensure that major deforesters are held accountable,” Suely Araújo, the public policy coordinator at the Brazil-based Climate Observatory, not involved with the report, told Mongabay in a written message. “There are still very relevant challenges that need to be faced.”
In October 2024, Brazil’s National Justice Council rolled out a protocol to guide courts in calculating fines for environmental cases, which include damages from greenhouse gas emissions. If widely adopted, the guidelines could make rulings more consistent and improve enforcement, the report stated.
“It’s essential to make sure the climate damage caused by deforestation is properly calculated in court rulings,” Araújo added.
Banner image: 95% of identified deforestation cases between 2017 and 2020 have not resulted in environmental compensation payments. Image © Marizilda Cruppe/Greenpeace.
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