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A Brazilian rancher was recently ordered a rancher to pay millions of dollars in compensation for illegal Amazon deforestation.
Read more: Brazil Is Expanding Its Beef Exports – What Does This Mean For The Amazon?
A federal court froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger, a Brazilian animal farmer, and ordered him to pay just over BRL $292 million (around USD $50 million) to restore the thousands of hectares of the invaluable Amazon rainforest he has destroyed to create pasture for cows.
The news marks the largest ever civil case brought to court for climate-related crimes in Brazil and signifies further national efforts both to deter lawbreaking and repair some of the damage done via Brazil’s climate emergency fund.
However, the court noted that no action taken now could entirely undo the negative environmental impact of Kruger’s deforestation. In addition to the compensation, the court banned him from selling cows and agricultural products and buying related chainsaws, tractors, and other machinery.
Read more: Cattle Australia Claims Clearing Forests Grown After 1990 Shouldn’t Be Considered Deforestation
Brazil renews efforts to halt illegal Amazon deforestation
The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) said that Kruger destroyed 5,600 hectares of public land in Boca do Acre and Lábrea between 2003 and 2016. He cut down trees with chainsaws and fires, then planted grass in the aftermath.
Satellite images showed the extent of the damage caused by Kruger’s illegal deforestation, and a video confession from the farmer himself confirmed his methods.
The attorney general’s office, which represented Ibama, argued that the farmer’s fires both directly emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs) and removed the valuable carbon storage of rainforest. (Even when legal, the beef industry itself also creates a huge quantity of GHG emissions.)
The Brazilian government described the case as “only the first” of a series that will seek to repair “climate damage caused by the destruction not only of the Amazon, but of all Brazilian biomes.” In June, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveiled plans to eliminate the record-high rates of Amazon deforestation he inherited from his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro by 2030 with strengthened law enforcement against environmental crimes.
Read more: Amazon Rainforest Faces ‘Unprecedented Stresses’ As Tipping Points Near
