Case Name: Estado de Rondônia e Ministério Público do Estado de Rondônia vs. invasores do Parque Estadual de Guajará-Mirim e sua Zona de Amortecimento (illegal occupation of the Guajará-Mirim State Park)

Summary

This is a Public Civil Action (ACP), with a request for urgent preliminary injunction, filed by the State of Rondônia and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Rondônia (MPRO) against several individuals who invaded the area of the Guajará-Mirim State Park and its buffer zone, a region called Bico do Parque, without authorization from the competent authority. The news of the invasion of the areas by approximately 70 people was received by the State Secretariat for Environmental Development (SEDAM) and the military police in September 2020, and the suppression of native vegetation and the construction of buildings were confirmed. After the intervention of the state authorities, the individuals vacated the park area, but remained in its buffer zone and more people joined the group of occupants, threatening to invade the conservation unit again. It is requested, as a preliminary measure, (i) that the defendants be ordered to refrain from entering the state park and to withdraw from its buffer zone; (ii) that the authorities with police powers notify the defendants and negotiate the non-occupation of the areas and their withdrawal, while maintaining surveillance on site. On the merits, confirmation of the requests for urgent relief is requested and the defendants are ordered not to occupy the areas in question, under penalty of a daily fine.

The request for urgent relief was granted, and subsequently, a judgment was issued against the occupants of the areas, ordering their eviction. The defendants filed an appeal. The judgment on the appeal is the procedural document that contains an express discussion directly related to climate change.

In its argument on the merits of the claim, the judgment highlighted the importance of the Guajará-Mirim State Park for the preservation of biodiversity in the state of Rondônia. It emphasized that illegal landholdings cannot be converted into legal ones for the implementation of agricultural projects that disregard the importance of the Amazonian biome. It argued that climate change necessitates the creation of conservation units, that Brazil is the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG), with 60% of emissions originating from land-use change and forestry. Furthermore, the judgment details the impacts of deforestation on water security, climate, soil, air, biodiversity, health, the lives of future generations, and the economy. It highlighted Advisory Opinion 23/2017 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which declared that the effects of climate change impact the realization of human rights. Furthermore, it was argued that the Brazilian legal system, due to the socio-environmental function of property, does not protect property that infringes on the rights of others. It concludes that the occupation of the areas in question is recent and that current legislation does not permit human intervention in these locations. Therefore, the appeal was not granted.

* The classifications and this summary were completed based exclusively on the initial petition and the judgment issued by the 2nd Special Chamber of the Court of Justice of the State of Rondônia.

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Main norms mobilized

• Article 225 of the Federal Constitution (CRFB/88)
• Forest Code (Federal Law 12.651/2012)
• National Environment Policy Act - PNMA (Federal Law 6.938/1981)
• National Policy on Climate Change Act - PNMC (Federal Law 12.187/2009)
• National System of Conservation Units Law - SNUC (Federal Law 9.985/2000)

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