Governors demand strict punishment for arson

In the midst of the wave of devastating fires in forest and agricultural areas across Brazil, governors from the Central-West and the North—two of the regions most severely affected—met with ministers at the Planalto presidential palace Thursday (Sep. 19) to discuss measures to tackle the problem. One of the demands put forward was tougher punishment for those who intentionally set fires. Arson was identified by the governors themselves as one of the factors exacerbating the crisis.

“This year, in addition to the weather problem, which was predictable, we’ve had a lot of fires, many of which were clearly started by criminals. No fire starts without human action. Some were caused by carelessness, some by negligence, but many started by criminal actions,” Mato Grosso Governor Mauro Mendes told journalists after the meeting.

He advocated a “gigantic toughening” of the penalty to discourage the practice. “In my state, we arrested several people and they were released in custody hearings within a few hours. It’s a crime that’s causing damage to people’s health, the environment, and the country’s image, and it has a penalty that does not correspond to the size of the damage it’s causing to Brazilian society,” he went on to argue.

Fires in the country affected more than 11 million hectares between January and August. In August alone, over 5.5 million hectares were burned, as per data released last week by Mapbiomas.

Legislation

At the end of the meeting, the president’s Chief of Staff Rui Costa said that Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski should send his office a set of measures to change the legislation on the subject this Friday, “including the aspect of punishments for forest fires, making them more severe, stricter; it was a unanimous complaint and it’s important that we underscore it,” Costa said.

In his view, offenders have been arrested and released too quickly. “All the states have made arrests. And a number of governors—not all, but many—complained about the way people arrested were released immediately, under payment of derisory amounts of BRL 100, 200, 300 [as bail], after having set fire to extensive areas,” he remarked.

Climate change

Another point stressed by the governors after the meeting was the need to better prepare and adapt to the new reality of climate change, which has affected rainfall and drought patterns, making these seasons increasingly extreme.

“The fact is that we’re facing unprecedented levels of drought and rising temperatures, which is driving up the number of fires. So we’re in fact experiencing a new reality, and that should be a wake-up call to build a new normal. Climate change requires governments at municipal, state, and federal level to have strategies for climate adaptation and resilience in the territory,” said Hélder Barbalho, from Pará.

“The crisis is serious, it’s difficult to deal with, efforts are being adjusted all the time, and what we want is to work in an integrated way. President Lula told us our job is to serve the people, because it’s harming their health, it’s harming our economy, it’s harming Brazil’s strategic interests outside Brazil, and it’s destroying the environment in various biomes,” said Environment Minister Marina Silva.