PABLO RODRIGO
CUIABÁ, MT (FOLHAPRESS)
In a unanimous decision, the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso upheld the decree creating the Cristalino 2 park, in the north of Mato Grosso, in the middle of the Amazon. Appeals can still be made to the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) and the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
The action against the conservation unit was opened more than a decade ago by the company Sociedade Comercial e Agropecuária Triângulo.
When contacted, the government of Mato Grosso did not comment on the decision and possible appeals until the publication of the report.
The judges of the Second Chamber of Public and Collective Law rejected the arguments of the Public Ministry of Mato Grosso, which pointed out that federal law 9,985/2000 on the subject did not contain the necessary regulations for the obligation of public consultations, a prerequisite for the creation of conservation units.
The Public Ministry also pointed out that the state, under the management of Mauro Mendes (Union), already had its own law to regulate the issue and that it does not require public consultation for the creation of conservation units.
However, the rapporteur, judge Alexandre Elias Filho, disagreed with the Prosecutor’s Office, stating that the body only intends to re-discuss the issue already considered and decided by the collegiate in 2022, when the Triângulo Commercial and Agricultural Society, author of the action since 2011.
“If there were rules regarding the carrying out of public consultation, it is clear that the state should base its actions on the provisions of the federal rule. The state of Mato Grosso could not even legislate to exempt public consultations from being carried out,” he said in an excerpt of his vote during the session on April 26th.
The Cristalino 2 park was created by state decree no. 2,628, in 2001. According to the annulled decree, the park was created considering the need to ensure the full protection of biotic, abiotic and landscape resources in areas of primary forest, rapids, waterfalls and archaeological sites in the region. The north of Mato Grosso is pressured by the loss of forests, in the so-called arc of deforestation.
Prosecutor Flávio Cézar Fachone even appealed to the judges regarding the environmental importance of Cristalino 2, mentioned climate change and pointed out the diversity of species that need to be protected. The argument, however, was not considered by the judges.
The action began in 2011, when Sociedade Comercial e Agropecuária Triângulo filed a declaratory action, alleging that the creation of the park would have directly affected three properties it owns.
The creation of the park, according to the company’s action, did not comply with the provisions of law nº 9,985/00 (the Snuc Law, National System of Nature Conservation Units), since technical studies and public consultation would not have been carried out beforehand. of the issuance of the decree that established the conservation unit.
Environmentalists in Mato Grosso criticize the governor’s actions, since, at the time of the first decision that annulled the creation of the park, the State Attorney General’s Office did not appeal the decision.
Legal and articulation consultant for Observa-MT (Socio-environmental Observatory of Mato Grosso), Edilene Fernandes do Amaral criticizes what she calls the state’s absence in the action, but says she believes that the appeal in higher instances could reverse the decision.
“The state of Mato Grosso did not appeal, demonstrating from the beginning that it had no interest in preserving the Cristalino 2 park. But we believe that, with resources from the STJ and STF, we will be successful. Especially because there is jurisprudence on the subject”, he states.
MINING AND FIRE
According to Amaral, after the cancellation of the creation of the park, the number of miners circulating in the region increased, according to reports from residents of the municipalities of Alta Floresta and Novo Mundo, where Cristalino 2 is located.
“We are following this because there is already news from people in the region that the hotels are full with people who work in mining. And we are checking to see if there are mining operations within the park,” she says.
A survey via geoprocessing, which is a possible way of monitoring satellite images within the park, is underway to analyze whether there is already a record of mining activity in the extinct conservation unit.
“Since 2022, when the first decision was made to close the park, we have identified a 126% increase in mining requests in the area,” says Amaral.
At the end of March this year, a new request for gold mining within the conservation unit was made to the ANM (National Mining Agency). The request is for an area of 7,700 hectares within the park’s boundaries.
According to Observa-MT, a fire in 2022 that affected 900 hectares of Cristalino 2 was criminally caused, that is, intentional. The case occurred on the eve of the state court’s first decision and in the area of the new research request for gold mining made in March 2024.
“Before the action, a survey showed that there were 16 properties in the park when it was created. Today we have already identified 50 properties within Cristalino 2”, says Amaral.
With an area of 118 thousand hectares, the site is a biodiversity refuge in the Amazon rainforest. According to studies, there are more than 600 species of birds cataloged – 25 of them are on the Ministry of the Environment’s national list of threatened species.
