Aug 30, 2010
Brazilian Government Levy Fines for Illegal Burning
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
It has not rained for more than four months in many areas of central Brazil. This is the dry season in central Brazil, but this year, the dry season has been even dryer than normal. The vegetation is tinder dry, river levels are extremely low (some rivers have not been this low since 1970), pastures have all but disappeared, cattle are losing weight, and many fires have broken out. Daily temperatures can be above 100 degrees and the relative humidity of the air is extremely low, which adds to the fire potential. During a 24 hour period late last week, nearly 1400 fires were recorded in Brazil. The state of Mato Grosso had the most fires with 729 during the period. Thus far during the month of August, the Brazilian National Space Institute (Inpe) has detected 22,700 fires across Brazil.
A small percentage of the fires may have been accidently set, but the vast majority was set intentionally, mostly by ranchers trying to renovate their pastures or to clear new land. Toward the end of the dry season, the pasture grass is completely desiccated and ranchers like to burn off the dry grass to stimulate new vegetative growth for their hungry cattle. Some ranchers supply supplemental feed for their cattle during this time of the year, but most cattle in central Brazil are left to fend for themselves by eating dry grass.
The federal government has tried very hard in recent years to limit the amount of pasture burning that occurs during this time of the year by banning the practice during the driest months of the year. The pasture burning contributes to a very high level of pollutants in the air and an enormous release of greenhouse gasses. Add to the mixture the dust from the power dry soil and the result is a significant health hazard. The month of August is a particularly bad time of the year for poor air quality because of the complete lack of rain that could help cleanse the air.
The government does not attempt to extinguish pasture fires or land-clearing fires on private property, but they do try to control fires on public property such as conservation areas or state and national parks. Ibama, which is the Brazilian Environmental Protection Service, estimates that there are currently approximately ten thousand fire fighters on the ground trying to contain the fires on public property.
The primary way the government attempts to control the fires on private property is by levying fines on property owners who set the illegal fires. Last week alone, Ibama levied more than R$ 4 million in fines on property owners in northern Brazil. One rancher in the state of Rondonia was imprisoned and fined R$ 3.4 million for illegally burning his pastures. In the state of Para, seven land owners were fined R$ 726,000 last week for illegal burning of pastures and forests In addition, these land owners will now be embargoed from selling agricultural or forest products from their farms or ranchers.
Ibama levies fines at the rate of R$ 1,000 for each hectare of pasture burned illegally and R$ 5,000 per hectare for illegal burning of conservation areas, legal reserves, or other areas under permanent protection.
In southeastern Brazil, they generally do not burn the pastures, but many sugarcane producers do burn off the dry leaves of the sugarcane plants before harvest. This practice is being phased out over the next several years, but in the meantime, some controlled burring of the sugarcane fields is still permitted. When permitted, these burnings must take place between the times of 8:00 O'clock PM and 6:00 O'clock AM. Since it has been so dry in southern Brazil as well, even these controlled burns have now been prohibited in the State of Sao Paulo until the relative humidity of the air is consistently above 20%.