<
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-amazon-deforestation-cattle-environment-387912a13bf13b03da0b7724604c9325>
"BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A judge in the Brazilian state of Rondonia has found
two beef slaughterhouses guilty of buying cattle from a protected area of
former rainforest in the Amazon and ordered them, along with three cattle
ranchers, to pay a total of $764,000 for causing environmental damage,
according to the decision issued Wednesday. Cattle raising drives Amazon
deforestation. The companies Distriboi and Frigon and the ranchers may appeal.
It is the first decision in several dozen lawsuits seeking millions of dollars
in environmental damages from the slaughterhouses for allegedly trading in
cattle raised illegally in a protected area known as Jaci-Parana, which was
rainforest but is now mostly converted to pasture.
Four slaughterhouses are among the many parties charged, including JBS SA,
which bills itself as the world’s largest protein producer. The court has not
decided on the cases involving JBS.
Brazilian law forbids commercial cattle inside a protected area, yet some
210,000 head are being grazed inside Jaci-Parana, according to the state animal
division. With almost 80% of its forest destroyed, it ranks as the most ravaged
conservation unit in the Brazilian Amazon. A court filing pegs damages in the
reserve at some $1 billion.
The lawsuits are based on transfer documents first reported by the Associated
Press that show cattle going directly from protected areas to slaughterhouses.
The documents were filled out by the illegal ranchers themselves.
Part of the decision is a collective penalty of $453,000 against the five
defendants, who are linked to one farm. The money will be used to reforest 232
hectares (573 acres) of what is now pasture there."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/living-beings/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
