One Year After the “Fire Day” in the Amazon - São José Farm

A direct supplier to meatpackers JBS and Marfrig at their slaughterhouses in Tucumá, Pará, Fazenda São José is located in São Félix do Xingu, Pará state. Fire hotspots were recorded within the property between the days of 10 and 31 August 2019. His owner has been fined for illegal deforestation and had two areas under embargo in another cattle, Fazenda Matão, located right next to Fazenda São José. During the Greenpeace Brazil fly over, it was possible to identify that both ranches are connected, which also suggests possible movements and laundering of cattle from one property to the other. Fazenda São José boundaries also overlap with the BELAUTO community settlement project in half a hectare.

Fires in the Amazon in August 2019 were the worst since 2010. The days of 10 and 11 August 2019 – the so-called ‘Day of Fire’ saw a massive coordinated wave of fires in forest and nearby land in Pará State in the Amazon, along the BR-163 highway. This resulted in the increase of hot spots by 300% overnight on 10 August around the main city in the region, Novo Progresso. Almost half of fires hotspots registered on those two days fell within the registered boundaries of cattle ranches, many of which already had a track record of environmental crimes. One year on, just a handful of the cattle ranchers associated with the illegal burnings have been charged. Fazenda São José has not been prosecuted for its environmental crimes and continues to operate.