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The Mato Grosso Government’s actions to combat environmental crimes have already resulted in the application of R$303 million in fines in the first four months of 2024 alone. The main targets of the actions were illegal deforestation and illegal burning.

“Since the beginning of this administration, the State has acted with zero tolerance against environmental crimes. Proof of this are the results obtained throughout this first four months. Sema teams, firefighters and other security forces are always in the field to punish those who insist on causing environmental damage”, said the Secretary of State for the Environment (Sema), Mauren Lazzaretti.

Inspections by state bodies resulted in 1,198 infraction notices and 889 embargoed areas, resulting in 61 thousand hectares. The Amazon biome is the one with the highest number of fines applied, with R$256.69 million. In Cerrado and Pantanal there were R$27.93 and R$16.38 million in fines, respectively.

Fighting forest fires

Also in the first four months of 2024, the Mato Grosso Military Fire Department imposed R$21.3 million in fines for the irregular use of fire.

“We set up our inspection actions based on daily monitoring of hot spots with high-tech satellites and deforestation alerts associated with the irregular use of fire. This year, forecasts indicate that the climate will have drastic changes and, therefore, the government will be even stronger to prevent disasters from happening”, said the commander of the Environmental Emergency Battalion (BEA), Lieutenant Colonel Pryscilla de Souza.

She explained that the State has been going through an atypical period since the end of 2023, with little rainfall and low humidity. As a result, dry organic material accumulates, which facilitates combustion.

For this reason and anticipating the proximity of the driest time of the year in the State, the Government published a decree with extended deadlines for the prohibitive period for the use of fire in 2024.

In the Amazon and Cerrado, the use of fire is prohibited between July 1st and November 30th, and in the Pantanal, between July 1st and December 31st.

According to the decree, an environmental emergency situation is determined between March and October in the Northeast, North and Southeast mesoregions, which encompass the Amazon biome; between April and November in the Southwest, where the Pantanal is located; and between the months of May and December in the Center-South of the State, where the Cerrado is located.

The document also established that the Central Situation Room must operate with monitoring and rapid response actions to forest fires and environmental crimes, between July 1st and December 31st, extending for another 30 days after the end of the period. The Situation Room is linked to the State Secretariat of Public Security, with general coordination carried out by the Fire Department.

Furthermore, the Forest Fire Season Operations Plan is being implemented, with prevention actions, such as hiring firefighters, maintaining firebreaks, carrying out prescribed burning in state conservation units and training agents.

Seizures

All inspection actions resulted in the seizure of assets, including 24 tractors, 24 trucks, 22 treadmills, 14 boats, 13 chainsaws, 12 motorcycles, 10 dredgers or ferries, five vehicles, four tools or accessories, three excavators and two backhoes, among others.

The operations are coordinated by Sema, in partnership with the Military Police, Specialized Environmental Police Station (Dema), Agricultural Defense Institute (Indea), Intelligence and Joint Operations Center (NIOC), Sema’s Deconcentrated Unit Directorates (DUD). , Environmental Emergency Battalion (BEA), Ostensive Rounds (Rotam) and Environmental Protection (BPMPA), among other institutions.