Brazilian Amazon states disregard Supreme Court ruling on wildfires
07 de May de 2025
By Jadson Lima – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – Six states in the Legal Amazon have failed to comply, as of April 28 this year, with orders from the Supreme Federal Court (STF) regarding the implementation of measures to combat forest fires in 2025. The information is included in a decision signed by Minister Flávio Dino, which states that only the states of Amazonas, Roraima, and Mato Grosso submitted to the court a timeline of actions and goals set to prevent new fire outbreaks in the region.
Dino set a ten-day deadline for the states that failed to submit measures, including the establishment of a situation room for monitoring and tracking fire outbreaks, to comply with the orders. “I hereby order the urgent summons of the states of Acre, Amapá, Rondônia, Maranhão, Tocantins, and Pará, so that, within an irrevocable period of 10 (ten) working days, they comply with the aforementioned orders,” reads part of the decision.
The STF decision also mentions that the Union has ten days to inform the judiciary about the creation of a police action plan, coordinated by the Federal Police (PF), to combat wildfires. The judge also accepted the states’ proposal for the creation of an action plan aimed at regularizing the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) and the environmental regularization of rural properties in the Amazon.
Three working groups, with representatives from the Union and the states, will be created to develop common solutions. All the orders are part of the decision under the Argument of Noncompliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 743. “The proposal from the states is hereby accepted. Therefore, May 15 is designated as the date for the first meeting of the three intergovernmental working groups, with the Attorney General’s Office of the Union and the State Attorneys General determining the details,” the STF decided. See:
Expropriation of Land
In a decision under ADPF 743, the STF also ordered the Union to take measures to expropriate properties affected by criminal fires or illegal deforestation. According to Minister Dino, this measure should apply in cases where the owner’s responsibility for environmental devastation is proven. Both the Union and the states must also adopt measures to prevent the regularization of lands with records of environmental crimes.
“I hereby order the Union to take the necessary administrative measures for expropriation, in the public interest, of properties affected by arson or illegal deforestation when the responsibility of the owner is duly proven […] and normative and operational instruments that prevent the land regularization of areas where environmental crimes are unequivocally identified,” reads part of the decision. See:
CENARIUM inquired the states that did not comply with Flávio Dino’s orders – Acre, Amapá, Rondônia, Maranhão, Tocantins, and Pará – if any measures are being adopted to comply with the new court decision. At the time of closing this material, no response was received, but the space remains open for comments.