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IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE
a think and do tank
SP
47
STRATEGIC PAPER 47
AUGUST 2020
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME
IN THE AMAZON BASIN:
A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Adriana Abdenur, Brodie Ferguson, Ilona Szabo de Carvalho, Melina Risso and Robert Muggah
Index
Abstract ���������������������������������������������������������� 1
Introduction������������������������������������������������������ 2
Threats to the Amazon Basin���������������������������� 3
Typology of environmental crime����������������������� 9
Conclusions���������������������������������������������������� 16
References����������������������������������������������������� 17
Annex 1: Dimensions of Illegality��������������������� 17
Cover photo: Wilson Dias/Agência BrasilIGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME
IN THE AMAZON BASIN:
A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Igarape Institute1
Abstract
There is considerable conceptual and practical ambiguity around the
dimensions and drivers of environmental crime in the Amazon Basin.
Some issues, such as deforestation, have featured prominently in
the news media as well as in academic and policy research. Yet, the
literature is less developed in relation to other environmental crimes
such as land invasion, small-scale clearance for agriculture and
ranching, illegal mining, illegal wildlife trafficking, and the construction of
informal roads and infrastructure that support these and other unlawful
activities. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary review of the literature and
key informant interviews, this paper introduces a preliminary typology
intended to account for the diverse categories of environmental crime
and their extensive impacts across the countries of the Amazon basin.
The aim is to provide a general framework that helps advance future
research on these issues, while simultaneously providing greater clarity
to policy makers, law enforcement agencies, civil society actors, and
companies interested in curbing environmental crime.
1 The contributors to this paper include Adriana Abdenur, Brodie Ferguson, Ilona Szabo de Carvalho,
Melina Risso, and Robert Muggah. Credit is also due to several expert reviewers including Camilla Aguiar,
Daniel Rico, Izabella Teixeira, Gabriela Cabral, Natalie Unterstell, Rafael Benke, Steven Dudley, and Stewart
Davyth.
1ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Introduction Still missing from the debate on environmental
crime is a general framework or typology
that accommodates the vast array of
human activities causing extensive socio
The Amazon basin is at risk. In Brazil, after environmental harm. Such a framework
nearly a decade of decelerating deforestation is important not only in guiding future
during the mid-2000s and early 2010s, the research on this topic, but also in providing
rate of forest clearance and degradation has conceptual clarity to policy makers, law
surged once again. The Brazilian National enforcement agencies, civil society actors,
Institute of Space Studies (INPE) reported an and private groups committed to curbing the
85 percent increase in deforestation in the environmental and societal harms underway
Amazon from 2018 to 2019, and by mid- in the Amazon basin. By clarifying discrete
2020, deforestation had already risen a further categories of environmental crime, scholars,
34 percent over 2019 levels. Government policy-makers and practitioners can better
authorities in countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, distinguish the differences, similarities, and
Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname interconnections between activities and actors
and Venezuela often explain the phenomenon contributing to widespread damage in the
as resulting from individuals and small- region. In turn, such an exercise can help
scale actors pursuing livelihood strategies. advance applied research and the design
However, extensive research by environmental of more effective responses for curbing and
campaigners2 has shown that environmental preventing environmental crime.
degradation in the region is more often the
result of well-organized activities carried out by
a wide variety of actors, both legal and illegal, This paper proposes a preliminary framework
at multiple scales. to understand the scope and scale of
environmental crime in the Amazon basin. First,
it provides a review of the state of deforestation
There are several ways in which different types across the Amazon basin including the
of illegal or illicit human activities lead to vast principle drivers and key responses from a
socio-environmental harm in the Amazon. wide range of actors. Second, the paper
Yet despite decades of study, the knowledge proposes a typology of the main categories
base is fragmented and dispersed. For the of environmental crime that contribute to
most part, research has focused on specific widespread socio-environmental damage in
modalities such as land invasion, clearing the region. Finally, the paper reviews several
of forest for agriculture and ranching, illegal potential applications for the typology, both
mining, illegal wildlife trafficking in isolation of for research purposes and for enhancing
one another. There has been no clear effort environmental law enforcement in the Amazon.
to adopt a comprehensive approach that The typology will be used to guide a multi-year
accounts for multiple forms of environmental environment crime mapping project overseen
crime. As a result, knowledge about the by the Igarape Institute and partners such as
drivers, the dynamics, and the impacts of the Interpol and InSight Crime.
activities driving deforestation in the Amazon
across multiple domains remains fragmented
and often unavailable to researchers and
decision-makers.
2 See, for example, https://imazon.org.br/en/slide/environmental-laws/ and Rajao et al (2020).
2IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
Threats to the overseas territory of France. Although parts of
the basin remain heavily forested, the region
also includes major cities as well as smaller
Amazon Basin towns and scattered settlements. Overall, the
basin has an estimated population of 34 million
(WWF 2020).
Despite having been populated by indigenous
communities for thousands of years -- However, the Amazon is also the site of
communities that deeply affected the rainforest unmatched deforestation and degradation.
ecology -- the Amazon Basin has historically According to some estimates, more than a
been viewed by government leaders and quarter of the Amazon biome will be without
policymakers as a vast, empty space whose trees by 2030 if the current rate of deforestation
development requires encouraging people persists (WWF 2020). This scenario is alarming
to settle the land, and clearing it of original not only due to the vast socio-environmental
vegetation (Becker 1991). As a result, there impact caused by deforestation, but also
is a long history of systematic environmental because of the resulting greenhouse gas
destruction in the region -- as well as emissions from deforestation and associated
socioeconomic harm -- that dates back activities, such as forest fires. In 2019, satellites
to the colonial era. This legacy extended that detect heat signatures in Brazil issued
to the establishment of political borders more than 109,000 fire alerts in the single
in the nineteenth century and the rubber week from August 13-20, representing a
boom of the 1900s, and multiple waves of nearly two-fold increase in fires over the prior
urbanization. More systematic occupation year. Such wildfires released an estimated 392
and forest clearing intensified starting in the million metric tons of carbon dioxide in Brazil
mid-twentieth century with the construction in 2019 alone (Davidson 2020). Activities such
of major infrastructure projects, such as as urbanization and waste generation are
roads, bridges, and hydropower dams. Over likewise important drivers of observed methane
the past twenty years, the expansion of the emissions in the Amazon. As a result, the
agribusiness frontier into the Amazon has rainforest is now believed to be releasing more
created new pressures on the environment and carbon than it absorbs.
local communities.
Although Amazon deforestation rates
Deforestation and forest decreased over the past decade, there
has been an especially sharp uptick in
degradation deforestation rates in recent years, with
sharp increases in both 2019 and 2020. With
Covering over 670 million hectares, the the largest share of the basin in its territory,
Amazon basin encompasses the largest Brazil is responsible for approximately half of
rainforest in the world -- more than 40% of all the deforestation in the region. In 2019, for
such vegetation -- and is the source of 20% example, Brazil lost at least 770,000 hectares
of the global water supply. It supports multiple (the equivalent of 12,187 square kilometers) of
ecosystems and houses at least 10% of the native vegetation in the Amazon (MapBiomas
planet’s known biodiversity. It is also one of 2020). Andean countries -- especially Bolivia
the biggest carbon sinks; some 90-140 billion and Peru -- have also registered a significant
metric tons of carbon are stored in Amazon rise in their rates of deforestation, especially in
rainforests. The region encompasses parts their forested Amazonian regions.
of eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and
Venezuela, plus French Guyana, which is an
3ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Deforestation continues to be a major concern Socio-environmental
elsewhere in the region. Colombia experienced a
surge in deforestation following the signing of the impacts of human activity
2016 peace agreement between the Colombian
government and the Revolutionary Armed The destruction of the Amazon biome has
Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla. Specialists widespread consequences, not only for local
have argued that, during the conflict, the FARC communities but also -- due to the importance
controlled many of the country’s protected areas, of the rainforest to the climate system -- more
and that their presence in those places served broadly for South America and beyond (see
as a deterrent to deforestation -- a barrier to Makhijani 2019, Salles and Esteves 2019).
natural resource extraction that was lifted once Deforestation causes changes to the region’s
the peace deal was struck (Prem, Saavedra and water cycle in ways that are associated
Vargas 2020). Peru experienced record levels of with increased floods and droughts (Souza
deforestation with the expansion of illegal gold et al 2019). In addition to greenhouse gas
mining in its Amazon provinces (MAAP 2019). emissions, deforestation can lead to loss
Illegal extraction is also believed to be driving of nutrients in the soil that derive from the
deforestation in Venezuela, although reliable data breakdown of tree leaves, as well as increased
are not consistently available (Romero 2019). flooding due to inadequate water absorption
by trees. Biodiversity is also affected in
significant ways. The number of species
Most deforestation hotspots in the Amazon
drops precipitously, and the entire ecosystem
basin cluster in places where infrastructure is
is affected. According to one study, the
built, especially near large transport corridors
combined effects of climate and deforestation
(such as the massive BR-230, known as
could cause a drop of up to 58% in Amazon
Transamazônica, which was inaugurated in the
tree species richness (Gomes, Vieira, Salomão
1970s) that allow access into areas that were
and Steege 2019). Even “selective logging,”
previously off-limits due to dense vegetation and
through which a relatively small number of
remoteness. Deforestation is also rife around
trees is felled, negatively impacts a broad
major energy projects such as hydroelectric
gamut of Amazon species, including insects
dams and reservoirs (Barber et al 2014). There
(França et al 2017).
are literally hundreds of dams across Brazil,
including 80 large structures developed over
the past half century. Especially since the early The economic costs of this destruction
2000s, however, as Brazil’s agribusiness frontier are considerable. According to a study by
shifted north, the Amazon basin has seen a rise economists and agricultural engineers, Amazon
in deforestation related to cattle ranching and deforestation would lead to a fall in rainwater
agriculture (IBGE 2015). and agricultural losses of USD$422 million,
as well as other social and economic losses
resulting in as much as a USD$3.5 trillion loss
Recent reports indicate that deforestation rates
over thirty years. Conversely, the economic
in the Amazon basin are increasing within the
benefit of leaving the Amazon rainforest in its
context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as groups
2019 state would be USD$8.2 billion annually
and criminal networks feel emboldened by the
(Strand et al 2018). These figures indicate that
lack of state attention and official discourses
long-term costs far outweigh the short-term
promoting land invasions in the Amazon
benefits that may accrue from deforestation.
(Kimbrough, 2019). In turn, deforestation
There is, in fact, very little medium to long-term
facilitates the spread of the pandemic in the
economic benefit from continued deforestation.
region as more groups move deeper into forested
areas, some of them carrying the disease and
exposing vulnerable local populations, including
indigenous communities and other traditional
forest peoples (ISA 2020).
4IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
Amazon deforestation affects livelihoods The environmental criminals
and income-generation activities, especially
for traditional peoples of the forest, such as
While not all environmentally harmful activities,
indigenous, quilombola (Afro-descendant),
including deforestation, are illegal, the vast
and fishing communities along the rivers of
majority of the tree-cutting taking place in
the basin. Tree felling negatively impacts soil
the Amazon is carried out illegally. A 2020
nutrition, damaging local agricultural practices,
report indicates that as much as 99 percent
and pollution and contamination affect fishing
of deforestation in Brazil results from illegal
catches, also enhancing food insecurity (Tregidgo
activities (MapBiomas 2020). The legal status
et al 2020). Deforestation causes negative
of a particular activity depends on the legal
health impacts, including the emergence and
definitions of what constitutes environmental
re-emergence of human infectious diseases,
crime, and this varies across countries. In
such as malaria, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow
Colombia, for instance, land grabbing is
fever, even as increased malnutrition makes local
considered an environmental crime, whereas
populations less resilient to disease (Ellwanger,
in Brazil it is a crime against property, albeit
2020). In illegal mining hotspots, mercury levels
one that typically entails environmental crimes
are extremely high not only among fish and
such as illegal deforestation (Orozco 2015).
other animal species, but also within the human
This means, among other things, that penalties
population (Gonzalez, Arain and Fernandez 2019).
range from small fines to imprisonment. Yet
Where explosives, machinery and dredging boats
owing to weak enforcement, the vast majority
are used for illegal mining, these activities cause
of penalties are ignored (Insight Crime 2020).
lasting damage to riverbeds, with consequences
for the health and livelihoods of communities even
hundreds of kilometers downriver (RAISG 2014). The legal status of human activities in the
Amazon basin can also change over time.
An activity that was legal five years ago can
Human activities entailing widespread
become an illegal activity when a law or decree
environmental destruction in the Amazon also
is passed, and vice versa. This is the case with
generate social tension, crime and violence.
land grabbing in Brazil, which is often practiced
Many environmental crimes fuel other types of
with a sense of impunity owing to the repeated
criminal activities, such as arms trafficking, people
amnesties that have been granted to offenders
smuggling, child slavery, and sexual exploitation
(Brito and Barreto 2020). In some places, there
and forced prostitution (Watts 2017). There is also
is also great ambiguity in the legal status of
a strong association of violent crime, including
certain activities, some of which are deemed
homicides, with areas where environmental
to be “irregular” (for instance, a legalized gold
crimes and deforestation are rampant. Many of
digging cooperative whose license has expired)
the most violent cities in Latin America, including
-- a legal limbo that reflects the sometimes fluid
Altamira and Novo Progresso (both in the
categorization of such activities in the region.
Brazilian state of Pará, a major environmental
Disputes over these legal boundaries are at the
crime hotspot), are economies largely based
heart of many major political struggles in and
on environmental crime. These activities are
over the Amazon, including recent efforts by
also strongly associated with violent attacks on
the government of Jair Bolsonaro to legalize
environmental defenders (Human Rights Watch
gold digging (Fernandes and Uribe 2020).
2019, Muggah and Franciotti 2019, Global
Witness 2018). Disputes over natural resources
may also fuel armed conflict in the Amazon, such There are also distinctions in the legality of
those involving Colombian guerrilla groups or actors involved in these activities, and complex
Venezuelan networks (Rendon 2020). ways in which legal and illegal actors are
intertwined. In many areas of the Amazon,
criminal networks -- groups of individuals
5ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
who organize themselves and specialize in glaring in border areas, small towns and
one or more of these activities -- finance, settlements in the interior, as well as in the
organize, and execute actions that lead to marginalized peripheries of large Amazon cities.
widespread socio-environmental damage. However, the extent of socio-environmental
They are frequently financed with resources damage across much of the Amazon in
generated through legal businesses, and their recent decades is not simply the result of the
actions are facilitated by corrupt government historically weak presence of the state. In fact,
officials, including law enforcement actors, much deforestation in the Amazon has been
notary clerks, and politicians (Human Rights proactively encouraged by the state in order to
Watch 2019). The proceedings from these incorporate forested areas, and their inhabitants,
activities are typically laundered, whether into the extractivist economic model. This vision
locally or abroad, through a variety of methods of the Amazon as a vast empty land that must
that range from purchase of farms to mixing be occupied in order to be developed, and that
of illegally sourced gold with legally extracted posits a hard dichotomy between development
gold that is exported as far as India and UAE. and preservation of the forest, dates back to
These groups also adopt the use of new at least the mid-20th century but has found
technologies, from social networks and crypto continuity among governments of different
currencies to drones and satellite technologies, political orientations. The failure of Amazon
so as to facilitate their activities and evade law states to develop sustainable and inclusive
enforcement. visions for their rainforests, based on the valuing
of local knowledge, has fuelled criminal activity
However, otherwise legal actors are also and contributed towards socio environmental
involved in activities that cause widespread harm in the region (Abramovay 2019).
deforestation and other socio-environmental
impacts. Economic sectors such as energy External actors also shape human activities
and infrastructure contribute towards in the Amazon. Especially since the 2000s,
deforestation both directly and indirectly. rising demand -- both nationally and from
The need to open up space for installations, abroad -- has encouraged economic
transportation and logistics leads to loss of activities whose perverse dimensions result
forest cover, and there are frequent examples in the destruction of the Amazon biome and
of environmental crimes committed by major harm to its populations, such as extensive
infrastructure projects. For instance, the region’s agriculture and ranching. Growing demand
largest hydroelectric dam project, Belo Monte for beef, particularly from China, increases
(in the Brazilian state of Pará) stands accused the incentives for actors based in the Amazon
of causing far more environmental damage basin to destroy tree cover in order to
than was originally foreseen, and authorized, in open up land for beef, soybeans and other
its development plans; environmental experts grains (Faleiros 2019). Recent increases in
have also noted that environmental impact the global price of gold, especially against
assessments are crucial yet inadequate (Ritter et the backdrop of local currency declines in
al 2017, Muggah 2015). At the same time, such many of the Amazon countries, have been
large-scale initiatives may cause further socio- shown to fuel a “new gold rush” in the region
environmental damage insofar as they attract (Salomon 2020). The range of actors involved
large numbers of migrants, who may be left in socio-environmentally harmful activities
without adequate sources of income once short- in the Amazon thus varies in terms of legal
term employment dries up (Kolhepp 2002). status, type of activity, mode of organization,
geographic reach, and size.
The lack of a continuous and constructive
state role, especially with respect to the
provision of public services, is especially
6IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
Responses from state and Notwithstanding measures to curb illegal
deforestation, some political, economic, and
non-state actors criminal actors adapted to the policy changes,
exploiting loopholes to circumvent monitoring
Despite the incentives introduced and sustained -- especially as state oversight receded from
by some political and economic interests to 2016 onward. The reversal in deforestation is also
ramp-up deforestation and degradation in associated with rollbacks in the role of the state
the Amazon, there are several examples of and the dismantling of governance structures
interventions that have yielded positive results and agencies responsible for monitoring and
to limit environmental destruction. Even Brazil, responding to climate change, environmental
where deforestation and forest fires reached protection, and the well-being of traditional forest
record levels in 2019 and 2020, was once populations, especially indigenous peoples
touted as a “success story” in fighting illegal (Vick 2020). In order to drive deforestation rates
deforestation in the mid-2010s. In a comparison downward, scientists and activists have called
of the data from 2013 to the average for for additional measures, such as the collection
the period 1996-2005, a group of scientists of a rural tax; the closure of markets to illegally
detected a 70% drop in Brazil’s deforestation produced beef; limiting credit to law-abiding
rates, along with a reduction of over two-thirds actors; innovation through the adoption of new
of the emissions resulting from deforestation technologies and more effective operations by
(Correa 2014). law enforcement; and the adoption of sustainable
methods that incorporate knowledge of the
At least three developments led to the significant forest (Calixto 2016, Abramovay 2019, Zero
decrease in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Deforestation Working Group 2017).
in the 2000s and 2010s. First, a series of new
protected areas were created starting in the mid- Yet environmental crimes are still relegated to
1999s, including indigenous lands and sustainable secondary status by the Amazon basin’s states
use units, which were then expanded in the and other stakeholders. Law enforcement,
2000s. The Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) criminal justice and military institutions across
adopted a more assertive posture, filing suits that the region basin focus heavily on illegal drug
reinforced the execution of laws and strengthened trafficking, which reinforces the widespread
forest monitoring systems. Second, the private impunity in environmental crimes. Environmental
sector implemented a number of innovations task forces are few and far between, and when
against illegal deforestation. Starting in 2006, they do exist, they tend to focus narrowly on
signatories of the Soy Moratorium committed one or two types of environmental crime, such
to refrain from purchasing grains produced in as illegal logging and wildlife trafficking, at the
recently deforested areas of the Amazon. The expense of other activities. When cases are
beef sector followed suit, starting in 2009. Third, prosecuted -- which is rare -- convicted offenders
as payment for ecosystem services programs are let off with small fines. This impunity helps to
(e.g. carbon markets) gained traction globally, fuel the cycle of land invasions, forest clearing,
subnational governments became more proactive. and the establishment of activities that further
Amazon state and city governments promoted pollute and contaminate the biome (Human
new ways to curb tree clearing and called on Rights Watch 2019).
the federal government to be more proactive.
These factors were reinforced by international
As a result, law enforcement actions against
cooperation agreements, such as that between
environmental crimes in the Amazon are
Brazil and Norway, that created new incentives for
inconsistent and reactive instead of preventive.
developing countries to curb emissions through
In some parts of the region, such as border
innovative financing (Calixto 2016).
posts featuring a more permanent presence
of military or police forces, operations may be
7ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
more effectively carried out. In general, however, agencies and in partnership with private and
investigative capacity and coordination among non-state partners. Even at the domestic level,
public entities is weak, and operations tend government bodies seldom collaborate effectively
to focus on the individual or groups hired to in addressing environmental crimes. Despite
carry out activities rather than the networks of some innovations, such as the creation of an
actors involved. Despite recommendations by Amazon Task Force in Brazil (Ministério Público
international organizations such as UNODC and Federal 2020b), weak political will to boost forest
Interpol to focus on flows of illicit financing for such conservation efforts in the Amazon has impeded
activities (Interpol 2015), law enforcement in the more effective joint action among prosecutors
Amazon basin tends to criminalize the individuals and other actors in law enforcement. There is also
executing the plans rather than those that insufficient collaboration between government
orchestrate them. Finally, legal changes can render bodies and non-governmental bodies, even as
such operations moot, for instance when agencies the number of organizations based in the Amazon
such as Brazil’s IBAMA are forbidden to destroy states engaged in the effort to curb deforestation
gold diggers’ equipment, which leads to the has grown.
immediate resumption of illegal activities as soon
as law enforcement leaves the area of operation At the international level, the resurgence of the
(Ministério Público Federal 2020). discourse of national sovereignty, which has
historically been strong in the region, has meant
Throughout the countries of the Amazon basin, that regional initiatives such as the Amazon
legal safeguards exist to ensure that private Treaty Cooperation Organization (ATCO) exist
sector actors properly assess, account for, mostly on paper. With the exception of periodic
and mitigate the socio-environmental impacts regional meetings, there are still comparatively few
of their operations. A good example of this dedicated efforts to promote joint efforts to tackle
is the requirement that companies carry out environmental crime. For its part, the Organization
environmental impact assessments, though of American States (OAS) has a mission in
enforcement remains weak. There is also a wide Colombia to support the peace process and has
range of voluntary efforts by public, private, and worked on specific issues such as sustainable
civil society organizations to promote transparency transboundary water management (OAS 2005),
in supply chains involving Amazon-sourced but does not address security or environmental
products, though there is little evidence that issues in the Amazon systematically.
such initiatives are having their intended impacts.
A report by Imazon analysed the overlay of Some international organizations have focused on
meat-packing plants of large companies with building the capacity of regional law enforcement,
incidents of deforestation, risk of deforestation criminal justice systems and customs agencies.
and embargos, and identified significant risks that For example, Interpol has an office in Buenos
are not being mitigated (Imazon 2018). In the last Aires, but its small staff working on environmental
year alone, some 251 global investors with $17.7 crimes (especially forestry issues) that provide
trillion in assets have called on companies to support to the region’s states on law enforcement
meet their commodity supply chain deforestation yet cannot cover the entire region, nor address
commitments or risk losing access to international in detail all types of activities leading to large-
markets (Kimbrough 2020). scale deforestation. UN entities such as UNODC,
despite important advances in strengthening
A recurring challenge relates to coordinating customs capacity3, have come under criticism
environment crime prevention measures and from far-right nationalist politicians and pundits.
maximising cooperation between government Joint operations across international borders,
3 See, for example, the LEAP Programme, a recent collaborative initiative between UNODC, INTERPOL and
RHIPTO to support law enforcement in reducing tropical deforestation.
8IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
and even across national borders, are exceptions states seek new leading roles in addressing
rather than the rule. Given the transnational nature sustainability -- represents another hurdle in
of many environmental crimes, these gaps in cooperation for climate action in the Amazon.
coordination and cooperation undermine the Ultimately, the fragmented nature of responses
effectiveness of most responses. to environmental crime across the Amazon
basin is exacerbated by a lack of conceptual
These gaps and weaknesses have been laid clarity about what constitutes such crimes
bare by a broader crisis of multilateralism, to begin with. Greater conceptual clarity is
including attempts to weaken or undermine needed not only so that research on these
the Paris Climate Agreement and other activities, their drivers and their impacts can
international regimes to protect the advance, but also so that stakeholders may
environment, such as biodiversity treaties. overcome the “silo effect” and shape more
Non-compliance by national governments, effective collaboration.
including Brazil -- even as subnational
Typology of
environmental crime
In this section, we present a typology of An activity such as small-scale gold mining, for
activities which, though not illegal in and example, is commonly associated with multiple
of themselves, are commonly associated social and environmental impacts, including
with multiple dimensions of illegality and loss of biomass, contamination of soils and
socio-environmental harm in the Amazon waterways, interpersonal violence, and land
basin. Activities are categorized according tenure violations. Such mining may be legal or
to economic sectors based on the primary illegal in a given jurisdiction based on existing
economic motive for participating in the activity. legislation, whether the miner has obtained
To facilitate more standardized comparisons proper permits, and whether any negative
by sector and activity, we include the activities’ impacts have been properly assessed and
corresponding codes in the North American mitigated. We use the framework presented
Industry Classification System (NAICS) as in Annex 1 to examine the various dimensions
well as the Brazilian National Classification of of illegality around any given activity in Table 1.
Economic Activities (CNAE) (IBGE 2007, US The illegality framework builds upon elements
Office of Management and Budget 2017). presented in Forest Trends’ (2018) assessment
Likewise, we assess impacts on natural of illegal forest conversion globally, as well as a
capital and ecosystem services according desk review of existing environmental legislation
to the Common International Classification in the countries of the Amazon basin.
of Ecosystem Services (CICES) and social
impacts within the framework of the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(Haines-Young and Potschin 2018, United
Nations 2015).
9ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Sector Societal
Economic Ecosystem
Category (NAICS/ Example(s) of Illegality Actor(s) Impacts Potential Indicator(s)
Activity Impacts (CICES)
CNAE) (SDGs)
Loss of biomass,
Illegitimately occupying or Number of new land title
climate regulation, SDG 5.2,
settling rural land in order requests; number of new
Rural 53.1 / Land air quality SDG 16.1,
to demonstrate tenure, Individual CAR registrations; number
Property 681 speculation regulation, water SDG 1.4,
acquire title, or secure of overlapping or conflicting
regulation, SDG 1.5
other rights or benefits CAR registrations
biodiversity loss
Selective extraction of Proportion of forested area
Individual; Loss of biomass, SDG 5.2,
trees, including protected harvested on protected
11.3 / Selective industrial; genetic resources, SDG 16.1,
or endangered species, areas; hectares of protected/
022 logging organized climate regulation, SDG 1.4,
in prohibited areas and/or unauthorized area subjected
crime water regulation SDG 1.5
without proper permits to selective logging
Cutting and burning of Loss of biomass,
native vegetation for climate regulation, SDG 5.2, Number of hectares
11.21 / livestock farming beyond Individual; air quality SDG 16.1, dedicated to ranching;
Cattle ranching
014 legal limits or within industrial regulation, water SDG 1.4, number of new hectares
prohibited areas and/or regulation, SDG 1.5 dedicated to ranching
lacking proper tenure biodiversity loss
Loss of biomass,
Large-scale, intensive SDG 5.2,
climate regulation, Number of hectares
production of crops on SDG 16.1,
11.1 / Industrial air quality dedicated to agriculture;
areas beyond legal limits Industrial SDG 1.4,
011 agriculture regulation, water number of new hectares
Agriculture, and/or using improper SDG 1.5,
regulation, dedicated to agriculture
Livestock methods SDG 3.9
biodiversity loss
and Forestry
Small-scale cutting
Loss of biomass,
and burning of native SDG 5.2,
climate regulation, Number of reported fire
vegetation for cultivation Individual; SDG 16.1,
11.1 / Small-scale air quality incidents; number of
beyond legal limits or organized SDG 1.4,
011 agriculture regulation, water hectares of protected/
within prohibited areas crime SDG 1.5,
regulation, unauthorized area burned
and/or lacking proper SDG 3.9
biodiversity loss
tenure
Loss of biomass,
Number of new hectares
Cultivation of plants climate regulation,
SDG 5.2, cleared within protected
like coca, marijuana, air quality
Individual; SDG 16.1, areas; number of new
11.1 / and other intoxicants regulation, water
Drug cultivation organized SDG 1.4, hectares cleared on public
0128 or hallucinogens often regulation,
crime SDG 1.5, lands; number of new
classified as controlled biodiversity loss,
SDG 3.9 hectares cleared on private
substances contamination
lands
of soil
Trafficking in plants and Loss of food, Reported incidents of
animals taken from the genetic resources, SDG 5.2, wildlife trafficking; number
Individual;
11.4 / natural environment or ornamental SDG 16.1, of convictions of wildlife
Wildlife trade organized
023 raised under controlled resources, cultural SDG 1.4, trafficking; people’s
crime
conditions in undesignated resources; SDG 1.5 perception of the prevalence
areas or without permits biodiversity loss and impact of wildlife trade
Loss of food,
genetic resources, Reported incidents of
Overhunting, or hunting of
biochemical and SDG 5.2, hunting activity; number
protected or endangered Individual;
11.4 / natural medicines, SDG 16.1, of convictions for illegal
Wildlife Hunting species, in undesignated organized
017 ornamental SDG 1.4, hunting; people’s perception
areas or above established crime
resources, SDG 1.5 of the prevalence and
limits
cultural resources, impact of hunting activities
biodiversity loss
Loss of food, Reported incidents of
Overfishing, or fishing of
genetic resources, fishing activity; number of
protected or endangered Individual;
11.4 / ornamental SDG 1.4, convictions for illegal fishing;
Fishing species, in undesignated organized
031 resources, cultural SDG 1.5 people’s perception of the
areas or above established crime
resources, prevalence and impact of
limits
biodiversity loss fishing activities
10IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
Sector Societal
Economic Ecosystem
Category (NAICS/ Example(s) of Illegality Actor(s) Impacts Potential Indicator(s)
Activity Impacts (CICES)
CNAE) (SDGs)
Number of existing mines;
Small-scale extraction, Contamination number of new mines;
SDG 5.2,
processing and trading of soil, air, water hectares of existing and
Individual; SDG 16.1,
21.1 / Small-scale of minerals without and food, loss new mines; social and
organized SDG 1.4,
072 mining appropriate permissions of biomass, conventional media
crime SDG 1.5,
and/or mitigation destruction of mentions; proximity to
SDG 3.9
measures riverbeds indigenous territories and
vulnerable communities
Number of existing permits;
Industrial extraction, Contamination number of new permits
SDG 5.2,
processing and trading of soil, air, water requested or issued ;
SDG 16.1,
21.1 / Industrial of minerals without and food, loss number of new mines
Energy and Industrial SDG 1.4,
072 mining appropriate permissions of biomass, detected; proximity to
Mining SDG 1.5,
and/or mitigation destruction of indigenous territories and
SDG 3.9
measures riverbeds vulnerable communities;
volume of legal gold exports
Number of existing oil & gas
projects; number of new
Extraction, processing, oil & gas projects; number
Contamination
and trade of oil and natural SDG 1.4, of hectares converted for
21.2 / of soil, air, water
Oil and gas gas without appropriate Industrial SDG 1.5, to oil & gas; proximity to
06 and food; loss of
permissions and/or SDG 3.9 indigenous territories and
biomass
mitigation measures vulnerable communities;
social and conventional
media mentions
Number of existing
renewable energy projects;
number of new renewable
Development of energy energy projects; number
Contamination
infrastructure projects SDG 1.4, of hectares dedicated to
22.1 / of soil, air, water
Utilities Utilities without appropriate Industrial SDG 1.5, renewable energy; number
35 and food, loss of
permissions and/or SDG 3.9 of hectares converted;
biomass
mitigation measures proximity to indigenous
territories; social and
conventional media
mentions
Construction and Loss of biomass,
Number of existing hectares
maintenance of climate regulation,
Industrial; SDG 1.4, dedicated to transportation
23.7 / Transportation installations to facilitate air quality
organized SDG 1.5, infrastructure; number of
421 infrastructure the movement of people regulation, water
crime SDG 3.9 new hectares attributable to
and goods throughout a regulation,
transportation infrastructure
territory biodiversity loss
Unauthorized and/ Loss of biomass,
or unmitigated urban climate regulation, Number of existing hectares
SDG 1.4,
Roads and 23.6 / Housing and and rural construction Individual; air quality dedicated to residential use;
SDG 1.5,
Construction 4121 urban growth to provide shelter and industrial regulation, water number of new hectares
SDG 3.9
services to local or regulation, attributable to residential use
temporary populations biodiversity loss
Loss of biomass,
Unauthorized and/or Number of existing hectares
climate regulation,
Commercial unmitigated real estate SDG 1.4, dedicated to commercial/
23.6 / air quality
and industrial development to provide Industrial SDG 1.5, industrial use; number of
4122 regulation, water
development products or services for SDG 3.9 new hectares attributable to
regulation,
commerce or business commercial/industrial use
biodiversity loss
11ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
The combined framework thus goes beyond in the state of Rondônia were financed by
the concept of “environmental crime” to residents of Santa Catarina, in the south of the
encompass a broad range of organized human country (Madeiro 2019).
activities that are changing the landscape,
societies, and climate of the Amazon basin. In some cases, land invaders then sell
Some of these activities take place primarily in extraction rights to illegal loggers, using the
rural areas, whereas others are more common revenues to fund the conversion of forest into
in urban or peri-urban areas. The participants pasture and agricultural fields. The low cost
involved can range from isolated individual of legalizing medium and large properties
actors to highly organized legal and illegal in Brazil, many of them created through
organizations at different geographical scales. land invasions, creates further incentives for
Activities are organized according to several subsequent land invasions (Imazon 2018).
broad categories detailed below. Insecure property rights are among the main
challenges in curbing deforestation caused
Land speculation by land invasions (Oliveira 2008). The land
legalization process across much of the
Amazon is rife with fraudulent documents
The first category refers to modes of
and false registrations. This is especially true
occupation of rural land, including illegal
of indigenous and other protected lands,
land grabbing -- which often takes place in
as well as “undesignated” lands (areas that
public or collectively owned land, such as
lack formal legal designation). According to
protected areas, indigenous reserves, and
one study, 23% of the Brazilian Amazon is
community held lands. Across much of the
composed of public lands that have been
Amazon, current systems of land ownership
illegally registered as private (Azevedo-Ramos
are extremely complex, often characterized
and Moutinho 2018). There is also evidence of
by conflicting interests over land tenure and
widespread collusion between land grabbers,
land use. When land is invaded by individuals
notaries, politicians and actors within the state
or small groups of squatters in search of a
(Ministério Público Federal 2018). Political
subsistence livelihood, these invasions tend to
groups in the capital cities actively lobby to
have limited impact and scale, typically under
provide amnesty for land invaders in the region.
three hectares (Madeiro 2019). In contrast,
Those who lead land invasions often end up
large-scale land invasions are often carried
becoming powerful political actors, capable
out in highly organized fashion and require
of influencing mayors and congressmen, and
equipment such as chainsaws, fertilizers and
sometimes are able to pressure monitoring
seeds, all of which in turn demand substantial
agencies to appoint their allies to key posts
resources. The organized criminal groups that
in order to guarantee the impunity of these
specialize in land invasions generally feature
crimes (Madeiro 2019).
local leaders, but financing for these activities
is not necessarily local. In many cases, the
funding comes from individuals and businesses While part of the land that is invaded becomes
based in metropolitan areas inside and outside the site of income-generating activities, such
a given country. In 2019, Operation Ojuara, led as ranching or agriculture, land also has a
by the Brazilian Federal Police against large symbolic value, conferring social status to
organized land invasions in the northern state property owners. This is reflected in the fact
of Acre, found that one illegal group received much of the land in the Amazon that is invaded
funding from a prominent businessman in is then allowed to lie fallow for many years,
Minas Gerais, in the Southeast of Brazil. indicating widespread land speculation that is
Another operation, Operação Máfia da Tora, often independent of other income-generating
carried out in 2017, discovered that groups activities, and that may be led by people who
12IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
do not even reside in the Amazon region. meat companies fail to properly ensure that
According to one survey, almost a quarter of they are not buying cattle from farms involved
all land deforested between 1988 and 2014 in in illegal deforestation.
the Brazilian Amazon was simply abandoned
(MapBiomas 2020). Sometimes the invasion of
a plot of land is carried out by one person or Wildlife hunting and trade
by a group, while the trees are cut down by a
different group. Elsewhere, the land becomes Wildlife activities in the Amazon include trade
the object of speculation and is often sold to in protected or endangered species as well
individuals who do not reside in the Amazon. as traditional hunting and fishing, and they are
carried out by a broad gamut of actors and
involve a variety of species. Wildlife trafficking
Agriculture, livestock and has become a multi-billion dollar industry;
forestry according to one estimate, this type of illegal
trade extracts 38 million animals (excluding
The agriculture, livestock and forestry category fish and invertebrates) annually in Brazil alone
encompasses agriculture (both industrial and (Schleeter 2015). Many trafficking groups are
small-scale), ranching, logging, and drug European, North American and Asian and
cultivation -- activities that are common in collaborate with local suppliers. Some of the
invaded lands that do not remain fallow. Except key species being trafficked within and from
for logging, these activities frequently follow the Amazon are birds, reptiles, and mammals.
forest fires that are set in the invaded land to
clear space for these activities. They are driven In parts of the Amazon basin, wild species
by unsustainable consumption, both from are often trapped by indigenous people, who
within the Amazon states and from outside the are then encouraged to sell the animals or
region. Over the past decade, as demand for their parts. The wildlife is then transferred
Amazon commodities such as beef and soy to brokers, via boatmen, farmers and truck
has grown (especially from Asia and Europe), drivers, who pass it on to traffickers with
transnational agribusiness conglomerates connections to major groups operating both
based in South America and outside the region within the region and internationally. Some of
have invested more heavily in Amazon land, this wildlife is exported to Europe, Asia, and
sometimes without appropriate monitoring of North America -- where high profits are made
supply chains. The cultivation of soybeans -- -- through key harbors and airports, while
now the top export for both Brazil and Bolivia some is consumed locally. There are reports
-- has expanded rapidly, especially as the of wildlife trafficking being masked as scientific
opening of roads in the Amazon, such as BR- or conservation efforts, with falsification of
163, cheapens transportation of the grains. certificates attesting that the animals were
born in captivity, which permits them to be
Cattle ranchers in Brazil and Bolivia have been imported or exported. Wildlife trafficking can
razing forest to meet beef demand in China have far-reaching environmental and societal
(Faleiros 2019). A 2019 report showed that ripple effects, potentially leading to ecosystem
Brazil’s annual beef exports, estimated at 1.4 collapse (Ibid.).
million tonnes, generate 65,000 to 75,000
hectares of deforestation each year, most of
it (52%) in the Amazon. Of this total, 22,000
hectares were attributed to exports to China
(Trase 2019). Despite pressure to make the
supply chains more transparent, practices
such as “cattle laundering” have spread as
13ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN THE AMAZON BASIN: A Typology for Research, Policy and Action
Energy and mining for large-scale projects as part of broader
development schemes. These projects can
extrapolate limits set through environmental
The Amazon features sizeable potential for
laws, causing widespread illegal deforestation
mineral assets, namely iron ore, gold, copper,
and contamination. In Peru, for example,
tin, nickel, bauxite, and manganese (Santos
several companies have been investigated by
2002). Mining has taken place in the region for
the country’s national justice system for their
centuries at different scales using a variety of
links to illegal mining in Madre de Dios, Cusco
extraction methods, but rising metals prices
and Puno; for crimes such as the purchase
have led to epidemic levels of illegal extraction
of gold of illegal origin; the use of shell
in the Amazon basin. The activity is carried out
companies; questionable financial transactions;
by several different types of actors, operating
and laundering of money and assets.
at different scales and with very different
impacts. These are by and large separate
productive chains, although in some areas In addition to causing deforestation, illegal
there are overlaps between the categories mining can be highly contaminating and
(Abdenur et al. 2019). polluting, particularly when mercury is used
to separate the mineral from the soil. Mercury
and other toxic materials have a strong effect
The rapid expansion of gold digging seen
on the quality of food supply and on human
in the Amazon during the 2010s is in part
health, since it accumulates throughout the
a result of the rise in global gold prices. In
food chain. In Colombia, alarming levels of
November 2019, for example, one ounce of
mercury used in illegal mining has been found
the mineral sold for USD$1,464, around six
in water sources used for human consumption
times the price of the previous decade. Soaring
(Díaz-Arriada 2014). At the same time, money
gold prices create additional incentives for
laundering for illegal gold mining has become
gold prospecting and mining in the Amazon,
more sophisticated. Monitoring of gold’s origins
especially through methods that can rapidly
is difficult, and outdated legislation (including
expand extraction. According to official
allowing hand-written receipts) makes it easy
estimates, 30 tonnes of gold per year are
to cheat the system. Another increasing trend
produced in the Tapajós River basin alone,
is the involvement of illegal armed groups,
generating R$4.5 billion in non-declared gains
especially guerrillas and paramilitary groups
-- financial returns that are six times the size
based in Colombia and Venezuela, in illegal
of those obtained through legal gold mining
gold mining. In the last few years, illegally
in the same region (Ministério Público Federal
mined gold has displaced cocaine trafficking
2019). In some places, gold diggers form
as a key funding source for some of these
cooperatives that often operate within a grey
groups (Global Initiative Against Transnational
area between formal and informal, sometimes
Organized Crime 2016).
transitioning between these broad legal
categories as permits are granted or expire
(Coelho et al 2017). In contrast, organized Utilities
illegal mining is carried out by highly structured
and hierarchical groups, with extensive
The category refers to the development of
planning and division of labor.
energy infrastructure projects, which often
takes place without appropriate permissions
There is also large-scale industrial mining and/or mitigation strategies. The abundance of
carried out by major companies, some of water in the Amazon has made it an attractive
which may act illegally. The profitability of region for major electric power generation
Amazon mining means that the region’s projects, and some of the region’s states
governments often provide major tax incentives depend heavily on hydropower. For instance,
14IGARAPÉ INSTITUTE | STRATEGIC PAPER 47 | AUGUST 2020
it provides around two-thirds of Brazil’s of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
electricity; around 31.6% of the hydropower occurred on land less than 5 kilometers from
generated in 2019 went to the industrial a road or navigable river. Some roads may
sector, including major mining operations in the be constructed entirely illegally, for example,
Amazon and elsewhere (another 4.7% went to in order to access areas for illegal logging,
agribusiness). while others may be properly planned
and authorized, yet fail to mitigate socio-
Amazon states have historically opted to build environmental impacts. While roads cause
large-scale energy infrastructure projects in deforestation directly through the opening
the Amazon, in part due to the simplistic view up of space, their most significant impact
of the rainforest as a vast “empty” space. results from making forested areas accessible
Such dams destroy rainforest and inundate to settling and economic activity. More than
forested areas with river water, changing river 50,000 kilometers (30,000) miles of roads
courses and making them less navigable. They were built in the Amazon in just three years
alter water chemistry and affect fish passage, (Ahmed, Souza Jr, Ribeiro and Ewers 2013). A
also endangering species whose habitats study of 75 planned road projects found that
are vulnerable to fragmentation. Numerous those planned roads -- which would add up
dams are under construction in the Amazon to 12,000 kilometers of roadway in Colombia,
Basin. The largest is the Belo Monte dam in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil -- have not
the Brazilian state of Pará, the third largest been assessed for environmental or economic
in the world, which has greatly surpassed its impacts. Seventeen of those projects are
expected environmental impact in the Xingu in violation of environmental regulations or
River region. indigenous rights (Vilela et al 2020).
The Belo Monte dam, which cost USD$9.5 At the same time, urbanization continues at a
billion to build and became fully operational rapid pace in many parts of the Amazon. Of
in 2019, has experienced reduced seasonal the 19 Brazilian cities that the latest census
flows in the Xingu River due to climate change indicates have doubled in population from
and upstream deforestation. Thousands of 2000-2010, 10 are in the Amazon. Altogether,
indigenous and other traditional communities the region’s population climbed 23 percent
were forced to abandon their homes and from 2000 to 2010, while Brazil as a whole
lifestyles, with fishing no longer a viable means grew just 12 percent (Romero 2012). New
of subsistence. Other large dams are under immigrants typically settle on the outskirts of
construction, and yet more are planned (for cities where they may clear forested land in
instance at Jirau, in the Brazilian state of order to build their dwellings. The emergence
Rondonia), with dozens more planned in the and rapid expansion of small and medium
Andes, especially in Ecuador and Peru. The sized cities, as well as the mushrooming of
Brazilian government is planning to build more small settlements -- especially along rivers
than 60 large dams in the Amazon over the and roads -- frequently entails environmental
next 20 years. damage and societal impacts (Sathler, Monte-
Mór and Carvalho 2009).
Roads and construction
Roads and other forms of infrastructure
development have a long history of enabling
environmental degradation in what had been
previously inaccessible regions of the Amazon.
Barber et al. (2014) found that 95 percent
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