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A Brazilian judge has fined two beef slaughterhouses and three “cattle” ranchers for causing environmental damage via illegal Amazon deforestation.
Read more: US Senator Cory Booker Says Giant Meat Corporations Must Be ‘Held Accountable’
Judge Inês Moreira da Costa fined the slaughterhouses and ranchers a total of BRL $764,000 (approximately USD $134,772) for buying and raising cows in the protected region of Jaci-Paraná, Rondônia. Before it was illegally deforested to create pasture for beef production, it supported the Amazon rainforest, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth.
Companies Distriboi and Frigon are named alongside the ranchers in the case, and each may yet appeal the decision. However, the original complaint – which was sustained by da Costa – noted the “undeniable connection” between the beef industry’s actions and the extensive environmental damage caused by their “illegal exploitation” of the region.
“When a slaughterhouse, whether by negligence or intent, buys and resells products from invaded and illegally deforested reserves, it is clear that it is directly benefiting from these illegal activities,” said the complaint.
Read more: Protecting 1.2% Of Earth’s Land Could Save Rare And Threatened Species, Study Says
Brazil cracks down on illegal deforestation
Da Costa’s ruling is the first decision in several dozen lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in environmental damages from slaughterhouses for illegal Amazon deforestation.
JBS, the world’s single largest meat processing enterprise, is named as one of those slaughterhouses, but the Brazilian courts have not yet decided on the cases involving the company. Earlier this year, New York State sued JBS over “greenwashing” claims.
The raising of cows for beef production is responsible for around 80 percent of Amazon deforestation. Rondonia is the most comprehensively deforested state in the Brazilian Amazon, and Jaci-Paraná has already had around 80 percent of its forests destroyed.
Many Rondonian cities have experienced thick smoke from wildfires in recent weeks, which typically indicates significant, ongoing deforestation. This smoke was so extreme that Porto Velho’s main airport was closed for seven consecutive days, per ABC News.
Last month, Brazil’s federal court ordered the rancher Dirceu Kruger to pay $292 million (around USD $50 million) to restore thousands of hectares of land deforested for farming.
Read more: 5 Million Acre Sugarcane Megaproject Threatens Papua’s Rainforest
