The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (União Brasil), declared in an interview with CNN 360° that Brazilian environmental legislation is inadequate to combat crimes against the environment.
Mendes argued that the current law is “lax” and allows offenders to get away with it.
“People continue to commit some types of crimes and they get away with it, they are prescribed by an inadequate law,” said the governor. He advocated stricter measures, including the confiscation of illegally deforested land.
Land confiscation proposal
Mendes revealed that he has defended land confiscation as punishment for illegal deforestation.
“I defend that we have the loss of land, the confiscation of land for those who deforest illegally”, he explained.
The governor shared that he presented this proposal to the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, on several occasions.
During a recent meeting, Lewandowski reportedly informed that he is preparing a package of tougher measures to combat environmental crimes.
Expectation of changes in legislation
According to Mendes, Minister Lewandowski stated: “Look, governor, I am already preparing a package of tougher measures that we will finalize within the government, take President Lula and we must forward to the National Congress”.
The governor of Mato Grosso expressed optimism regarding these possible changes, declaring: “I was very happy, because I deeply believe in this, that smart and tough laws change and form a better pattern of behavior in a society.”
The expectation is that these new measures, once approved, can strengthen environmental protection in Brazil and discourage illegal deforestation practices, especially in critical regions such as Mato Grosso, one of the states that make up the Legal Amazon.
