Disguised ownership helps Amazon deforesters evade penalties
Land grabbers in the Amazon use front people to avoid environmental accountability, complicating enforcement efforts by authorities, reveals a new investigation.
Fernanda Wenzel reports for Mongabay.
In short:
- Amazon land-grabbers like José Carlos Bronca, a Brazilian agribusinessman, employs fronts, typically relatives or unsuspecting individuals, to register land to circumvent fines and legal consequences.
- These tactics significantly hinder environmental agencies, such as Brazilian's IBAMA, from prosecuting offenders, often leaving fines unpaid and crimes unpunished.
- Bronca's manipulation of land titles and registration obfuscates his involvement, even as authorities increase efforts to tie deforestation back to him.
Key quote:
“You go to look for the assets that are in the citizen’s name and you don’t find anything, and that’s all there is to it.”
— César Guimarães, superintendent of IBAMA in Rondônia
Why this matters:
Using fronts to register land enables significant deforestation with minimal legal repercussions for the true landowners, undermining environmental conservation efforts. This tactic dilutes the effectiveness of legal sanctions and frustrates efforts to hold violators accountable.
Be sure to read EHN’s 2020 coverage: Massive, vital ecosystems that have existed for thousands of years could breakdown in just a few decades, according to a new study.
