A decree by President Jair Bolsonaro published on the 12th changes the rules for protecting Brazilian caves and, according to environmentalists, could lead to the destruction of hundreds of caves across the country and thousands of species that live in these environments. Specialists also point out the risk of new epidemics and pandemics such as the coronavirus, with the homelessness of populations of bats that live in these environments.
The new norm authorizes interventions in any type of cave, including those of maximum relevance, for works and undertakings considered to be of public utility. The president of the Brazilian Society for the Study of Chiroptera (SBEQ), Enrico Bernard, says that the decree was ‘designed’ to benefit mining companies, a sector that politically supports Bolsonaro. The Ministry of the Environment said that the measure will generate employment and income, enabling investments in highway, railway and mining projects, among others.
In Brazil, caves in areas subject to environmental licensing, such as mineral mining, must undergo a relevance classification process, in the maximum, high, medium and low relevance classes. A 1990 legislation, updated in 2009, prevented any intervention in caves of maximum importance. According to SBEQ, the decree unilaterally altered this understanding, allowing licensing bodies to authorize interventions in these formations. “Thousands of species that live in caves, including critically endangered and hyperendemic species (occurring in a single cave, for example) are at higher risk,” the note reads.
Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and specialist in bats, Bernard recalls that today these caves have a 250-meter belt around them that cannot be changed. “Many of the protected caves are in mining areas and are veritable green islands in the middle of the farmed land. With the change, mining companies can now ask for a review of the degree of relevance. It’s going to rain review request. Today, the targets will be the caves that are in a mining area. The next step will be to enter areas of environmental preservation”, he warned.
In order to obtain the environmental license, the entrepreneur must demonstrate, for example, that the intervention results from a public utility activity. For the expert, this leaves a dangerous margin of interpretation that can lead to unbridled exploration of the caves. Currently, projects such as highways, sanitation, energy and some mining segments are considered of public utility.
Diseases and Pandemic
For Professor Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira, coordinator of the Center for Underground Biology Studies at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), the decree represents an unprecedented setback in the history of Brazilian speleological legislation. “The possibility of suppressing caves of maximum relevance represents the Brazilian government’s approval to extinguish rare species. Once two of these caves are destroyed, there is no guarantee that a strictly underground species considered rare will remain, as it may depend on these populations to perpetuate itself.”
According to him, the loss of ecosystem services generated by bats, for example, exacerbates the risks of new diseases and pandemics. “The more caves you destroy, the more you displace bats that are important reservoirs of various types of viruses, including coronaviruses. When this wild population is evicted, it can seek urban areas and will be exposing the Brazilian population to new pathogens, increasing the possibility of new epidemics and pandemics. It’s a very dangerous stroke. The herd has now entered the underground environment and is passing over our caves,” he said.
no invitation
In a public note, the Brazilian Speleological Society (SBE) expressed “total rejection” of the decree that puts “caves in danger” and regretted that the government has not listened to the speleological community, researchers and scientific institutions that study the topic. According to Allan Calux, representative of the SBE, the attempt to change the decree has been unilateral since 2019. “Scientific legislation needs to evolve, as studies on caves have evolved. Today there are things that we didn’t even know existed. What we expected is that there would be a joint work, but as of November last year, the ministries began to hold recurring meetings on this topic and we, civil society, were not even informed.”
According to the expert, between November 5 and December 9, 2021, eight meetings were held to format the new rules with the participation of the Ministries of the Environment, Mines and Energy and Infrastructure, in addition to members of the legal prosecutors. Representatives of the mining sector participated in some of them, but speleologists and environmentalists were not summoned. On December 21, on behalf of SBE, Calux sent a letter to the Minister of the Environment expressing interest in participating in the process of drafting the new standards. There was no return.
According to him, the decree was created in the absence of Brazilian society. “We could contribute with the know-how of more than 30 years that we have about underground cavities. Cave of maximum relevance cannot be impacted in any way. What they did was allow them to be impacted through compensation. This decree will require new normative instructions that were previously the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment and ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation). Now, they will be prepared by an inter-ministerial committee that involves other ministries.”
The decree establishes a period of 90 days for the Ministries of the Environment, Mines and Energy and Infrastructure to define the methodology for the new classification of the degree of relevance of natural cavities, being able to hear from other government agencies related to the topic. In addition to President Bolsonaro, the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, and the executive secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Marisete Fátima Dadald Pereira, signed the document.
Annulment
The Speleological Observatory published a note pointing out the “recklessness” of the decree and informed the Coordination of Justice for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG). A spokesperson for the Minas Gerais MP informed that the case will be analyzed. An online petition addressed to the National Congress asks for the opening of an unconstitutionality action against the presidential decree.
On Thursday afternoon, the 13th, Senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES) presented a draft legislative decree to annul the decree of Jair Bolsonaro. According to the parliamentarian, the president exceeded his powers when editing the rule. “The Federal Constitution determines that, in the definition of territorial spaces and their components – among which the caves are certainly found – to be protected by the Public Power, the alteration and suppression of protective measures can only be carried out by law.”
what does the government say
The Ministry of the Environment said in a note that the decree published by the government “governs the protection of natural underground cavities and ensures that exploration can only take place as long as there is equivalent protection, even demanding double compensation”. Also according to the note, the legislation maintains the need for prior licensing in all developments and the prohibition of suppression of natural cavities with material of outstanding historical-cultural and religious relevance and expands the possibilities of environmental compensation, “in order to allow an application more efficient use of resources destined to environmental preservation”.
According to the ministry, the decree creates the possibility of investing in fundamental structuring projects, generating employment and income, such as highways, railways, mining companies, transmission lines and renewable energies, while guaranteeing the protection of cavities. “The Federal Government’s objective is to bring legal certainty to environments favorable to economic development, maintaining the preservation of the environment through legislation considered among the most protective in the world”, he said.
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