Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court, determined that the federal government, the states of the Legal Amazon (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins) and the states that are home to the Pantanal biome (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) “present emergency educational and awareness-raising action plans on integrated fire management.”
According to the minister’s order, emergency plans must be in line with the National Policy for Integrated Fire Management (Law 14,944/2024) and “must include publicity and social mobilization actions, aiming at broad participation by businesspeople and civil society.”
Fifteen days before the deadline for emergency plans, Dino wants the federal government and states to “update information regarding police investigations and administrative sanctions specifically related to illicit forest fires that occurred in 2024.”
In the minister’s view, it is necessary for the public authorities, as well as the private sector, to mobilize so that the country does not go through something similar to the fires of 2024 in 2025, “since this would constitute non-compliance with legal duties assumed by Brazil within the scope of international pacts, as well as violation of the provisions of Article 225 of the Federal Constitution.”
Flávio Dino is the rapporteur of the Claim of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precepts (ADPF) 743 proposed by PSol for the STF to assess the violation of rights resulting from pollution, loss of biodiversity and climate change.
Devastation
According to the “fire monitor” tool from the MapBiomas project, more than 30.8 million hectares were burned in Brazil between January and December 2024, an area larger than the entire territory of Italy. The volume represents an increase of 13.6 million hectares of burned area – 79% above that recorded in 2023.
The Amazon was the most affected biome: 17.9 million hectares burned throughout 2024. The Cerrado had 9.7 million hectares burned and the Pantanal suffered from fires in an area of 1.9 million hectares – a third of that only in the month of August (648,796 hectares)
MapBiomas details that three out of every four hectares burned (73%) were native vegetation, mainly in forest formations, which totaled 25% of the burned area in the country. Among the areas of agricultural use, pastures stood out, with 6.7 million hectares burned between January and December last year.
