Brazil’s raging wildfires are being caused by people clearing land for agriculture or by arsonists seeking to sow chaos, a senior police official told AFP, calling for tougher penalties for environmental crimes.
The worst drought in 70 years has left large parts of the country reeling from flames, with experts blaming climate change.
But the spark was ignited by people.
“There are economic motives, to clear areas for pasture, or even to appropriate public lands. But there are also those who set fires to sow chaos,” Humberto Freire, police chief in charge of the environment and the Amazon rainforest, told AFP in an interview.
“We have indications of possible coordinated actions, due to the many fires starting at the same time, in areas that are close to each other. These coordinated actions could be aimed at destabilizing certain areas, by overloading the fire brigades.”
Clearing land for agricultural purposes is normally only possible with prior permission, but is currently prohibited due to the drought.
The fires have left the major cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital Brasilia choking on fumes, destroyed crops and burned jaguars in the wetlands of the Pantanal.
Freire said federal police have launched 50 investigations so far.
“We have received information about suspects who have been arrested by local police forces in several states.”
– ‘Increased penalties’ –
Freire said Brazil’s legislation is not keeping pace with the development of environmental crime in the country, “while we are facing a climate emergency worldwide.”
“Environmental crime is often seen as less serious and less important. It is time to reflect on the harmful consequences of these crimes, which affect all of humanity and can cause many deaths,” he said.
“Unfortunately, until there are stricter penalties, we do not have the legal means to conduct our investigation.”
Freire said environmental crime should be linked to organized crime so that harsher penalties can be imposed.
“Organized crime has understood that environmental crime is very profitable, while the legislation provides for sentences that are too low.”
Illegal gold mining is punishable by six months to one year in prison and arson by two to four years.
“Depending on the convicted person’s criminal record, he will not receive a prison sentence. And by the time the investigation is complete, the statute of limitations will likely have expired,” Freire said.
“That’s why we really need tougher penalties.”
Satellites from the Institute for Space Research (Inpe) have detected 61,572 fires in Brazil since early September.
Last year there were 46,498 in the whole month
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