Lawyer Vinicius Domingues Borba, announced as the next environment secretary of the state of Pará, was cited by Ibama, Brazil's federal environmental enforcement agency, in 2021 on accusations of destroying 346.7 hectares of native forest in the Xingu River basin, an area equivalent to 484 soccer fields. The infraction notice carried a fine of R$ 3.4 million (about US$ 630,000). The case was revealed on Thursday (29) by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, based on agency documents.
According to the Ibama inspection report obtained by the newspaper, the clearing to create pasture took place between June 2019 and July 2021 on a farm between the municipalities of Altamira and São Félix do Xingu. The property sits inside the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area, a type of conservation unit that allows restricted economic use, on the edge of the Terra do Meio Ecological Station, one of the Amazon's most important blocks of protected forest. The deforested area was spotted in satellite images and inspected on the ground by Ibama agents in August 2021.
Reached by Folha, Borba said in written messages on Monday (26) that the infraction "was annulled by the Federal Court, and there is currently no active embargo or infraction notice in my name." Ibama told the newspaper the same day that a 2021 court order only suspended the requirement to pay the debt. The case is still before the courts, the agency said, and the administrative process awaits instruction and judgment. In July, at the request of state prosecutors, the court ordered the Civil Police to carry out new investigative steps.
A second fine, tied to an operation on indigenous land
Borba was also fined R$ 20,500 in 2023, accused of obstructing environmental enforcement and inciting the population against Ibama agents. According to the agency's report, the lawyer spread "erroneous information," in person and on social media, about Operation Eraha Tapiro, which removed cattle herds from inside the Ituna-Itata Indigenous Land, between the municipalities of José Porfírio and Altamira. After his actions, Ibama says, inspectors began to observe "heightened tempers" among local residents. That process is in the report-drafting phase, and the debt has not been paid.
The case highlights the challenge of the office Borba is set to lead. Pará, the state that hosted the COP30 climate summit in Belém, concentrates some of the largest deforestation hotspots in the Amazon, and the Xingu region is among the areas under the most pressure from cattle ranching. The state's environmental policy is central to Brazil's climate targets, which depend on curbing deforestation to meet international commitments and keep access to markets that demand traceability, such as the European Union.
The enforcement chain that caught the clearing remains active on the case: the area was detected by satellite, inspected in the field by Ibama, and is now the target of new police diligences requested by prosecutors. Borba was announced for the next state government, which takes office in January under governor-elect Daniel Santos, the winner of the Pará gubernatorial race, according to the local press.