The Public Ministry of Mato Grosso filed, this Tuesday (23), with an action of unconstitutionality against the changes recently made in the Law of the Pantanal (8.830/2008), which, according to the institution, reduce the protection of the biome. The changes stitched together and approved by the state’s Legislative Assembly were sanctioned in early August by Governor Mauro Mendes (União Brasil).
Much criticized by specialists, the changes in the Law of the Pantanal authorize extensive livestock farming in areas of permanent preservation in the biome and the implementation of cultivated pastures in up to 40% of the area of properties in the floodplain.
According to the state Public Ministry, the law sanctioned by Mendes allows “environmental protection flexibility” for the Upper Paraguay basin, encourages deforestation and violates the state and federal Constitutions.
“There is no lack of scientific evidence and international foundations that Brazil is starting to go in the wrong direction when it comes to protecting the Upper Paraguay Basin, notably, the
Pantanal”, says the Prosecutor’s Office in the action.
By reducing environmental protection and “disguising incentives for extensive livestock farming in essential areas of the delicate ecosystem of the Upper Paraguay Basin”, the new law offends the “fundamental right to an ecologically balanced environment and the State’s duty to promote its defense and protection for present and future generations”, says the Public Ministry.
It is worth mentioning that, recently, the state of Mato Grosso did not appeal in a lawsuit that demanded the end of an Amazonian park. Without the state’s manifestation, the end of the process led to the extinction of the Cristalino 2 state park. Due to a judicial error, the process was reopened and the park returned to legal existence.
“When one speaks of violation of the environment, (in)directly one also speaks of violation of one’s own life”, says the Prosecutor’s Office in the action.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that environmental protection is guided by the principle of prevention —considering that environmental damage is often irreversible or difficult to repair— and precaution.
In addition, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also mentions that the Forest Code classifies the Pantanal as an area of restricted use and that there is a constitutional prohibition for government actions that promote lower levels of environmental protection.
The great fires in the Pantanal in 2020 and the drought in the region are also remembered in the legal piece, including a 2022 photo of malnourished alligators huddled together in search of water.
“By default, the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso approved Bill 561/2022 in an extremely short time – less than two months of processing -, preferring to omit itself in good environmental management”, says the Public Ministry. The changes in the Pantanal Law passed through the Legislative Power without impact studies or mention of research, and that the reduction of protection could cost the survival of the biome, according to the prosecution.
Edilene Amaral, legal consultant for Observa-MT (Socio-environmental Observatory of Mato Grosso), points out that changes in the Pantanal Law reduce the protection of areas such as APPs (Permanent Preservation Areas) and murundus, which are “islands of native vegetation that , in addition to being endemic, they serve as protection and shelter for species of the Pantanal fauna”. “You can’t go back on protection,” says Amaral.
Observa-MT is one of the institutions that have been pointing out that the changes were not properly discussed and that the legislative process was trampled.
The Public Ministry asks for the preliminary suspension of the changes and interruption of administrative acts (such as licenses and authorizations for activities) that are the result of the new legal text, in addition to the request for information from Governor Mauro Mendes and the President of the State Legislative Assembly.
