The Brazilian Government presented this Tuesday a bill that proposes more severe penalties for crimes associated with the destruction of the environment, in response to the fires, many of them criminal, that occurred in the country this year.
The proposal was sent to the legislative chambers, which for more than six years have been trying, without success, to reach a consensus on the issue, although the debate took on greater proportions this year, due to the intensity of the fires that affected everyone. the country’s ecosystems, with particularly serious in the Amazon region and the Pantanal.
The Government’s proposal increases the prison sentence for Three to six years for anyone who causes forest or grass fires.in addition to toughening the economic sanctions applicable to these crimes.
It also considers aggravating fires that break out in protected areas and that, due to their magnitude, endanger the lives and property of other people or have an impact on public health.
It also establishes harsher penalties for illegal mining, animal trafficking and other environmental crimes.
Brazil has suffered an extreme drought this year, attributed in part to climate change, but worsened by fires set by many rural landowners to prepare land for plantations.
According to a study by the scientific platform Mapbiomas, published last week, between January and September of this year the flames devastated around 22.3 million hectares in the Amazon, and more than half of that destruction occurred in Brazil.
The phenomenon was also recorded in the Pantanal wetlands and the Cerrado savannahs, in central Brazil.
The smoke generated by these fires covered around half of the national territory by mid-year and even spread to some neighboring countries.
Source: Observadora
