A justice on the Brazilian Supreme Court has directed the government to seize private lands where forests have been illegally razed.
“The decision bolsters the Brazilian government’s efforts to fight illegal deforestation and intentional wildfires,” Paulo Busse, a lawyer with Climate Observatory, told the Associated Press. By one estimate, more than half of the forest lost in the Brazilian Amazon has been on private lands.
The ruling, by Justice Flávio Dino, also calls for halting the process known as regularization, by which land grabbers are granted title to stolen lands, even when they have illegally destroyed forest on those lands.
“Right now, land regularization laws in the Amazon — both federal and state — don’t ban granting titles to properties with illegal deforestation,” Brenda Brito, of the conservation group Imazon, told the Associated Press.
The decision, which may be appealed, further requires the government to seek compensation from landowners who have destroyed forest. The ruling could have immediate effect, impacting several recent convictions for illegal deforestation.
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