The Minister of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Herman Benjamin, issued an injunction suspending environmental licenses and ordering the stoppage of construction work on a resort in the Maricá Environmental Protection Area (APA), in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The decision responds to a civil lawsuit filed by the state Public Prosecutor’s Office against the State Institute for the Environment (Inea), the State of Rio de Janeiro, the municipality of Maricá and IDB Brasil (the company responsible for the resort project). In the injunction, the magistrate justified that the interventions could cause irreversible environmental damage in the restinga area. “Any economic injury can be repaired; the environmental damage, in turn, can never be restored if civil construction works are carried out, given the impact they cause. Confronting private and public interest, one must favor the latter – which is irreparable – to the detriment of the former. If construction continues, there is a risk of authorizing a provision capable of irreversibly damaging the local fauna and flora,” he said. The Maraey tourist-residential development project encompasses an area of 840 hectares at Fazenda de São Bento da Lagoa, between Praia da Barra de Maricá and Lagoa de Maricá. On site, it is planned to install hotels, clubs, shopping malls, a golf course, an equestrian center, residential buildings and houses, restaurants and a school. Investments are estimated at R$ 11 billion. The STJ’s decision is yet another chapter in the story that began in 2006, when IDB Brasil bought the land in the restinga. The official announcement of the resort project was made in 2007. Civil action In an attempt to prevent the licensing and construction of the enterprise, the Associação de Preservação Ambiental das Lagunas de Maricá (Apalma) filed a public civil action in 2009, which was later membership of the Fishermen of Zacarias Community Culture and Leisure Association (Accaplez), represented by the Rio de Janeiro Public Defender’s Office. Another group opposed to the works is the Guarani indigenous people, from the Mata Verde Bonita community. Last month, they organized a protest in front of the IDB Brasil land, after the resort’s infrastructure works began. It was also for this reason that the State Public Ministry filed the most recent action. For the agency, the company needs to wait for the final decision of the ongoing lawsuits. The decision of the STJ was celebrated by Désirée Guichard Freire, professor of Geography at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), who is part of the Movimento Pró-Restinga de Maricá and the Forum of Researchers of Restinga de Maricá. “Unfortunately, the entrepreneurs started the works knowing that this judicial decision was close. We are happy with this heritage preservation measure. At the same time, we see it as something temporary. The main action has not yet been judged, so there is still a lot of fighting ahead, ”she opined. Defense In defense of the preservation of the Maricá APA, motions were signed by the university councils of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), in addition to the Faculty of Teacher Training of UERJ. They are opposed to the undertaking and highlight the environmental and scientific value of the APA. “Innumerable scientific articles have had the restinga as their theme in Brazil and abroad for decades. Resources were invested by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Financier of Studies and Projects (Finep) and the Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) since the 1970s. That area is a true campus of the universities of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. And the fishing community was registered there in 1797. Until today [os pescadores] are vulnerable from a territorial point of view. The state is not exercising its obligations to protect a traditional community, an environment of high biodiversity and a Brazilian scientific heritage”, said geographer Désirée Guichard Freire. History After the resort project became public in 2007, there was a counter-mobilization by environmentalists and the fishing community of Zacarias. They argued that endemic species, migratory birds, dunes, historical and archaeological sites, as well as the fishing activity of two hundred families, were at risk. In response to this movement, a public hearing was held. On the occasion, the city hall of Maricá made clear its position in favor of the resort. Also in 2007, a state decree imposed a new management plan for the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of Maricá, which in practice expanded the possibility of building buildings on the site and resolved legal issues in favor of the resort. In 2013, the Association for the Environmental Preservation of the Lagoons of Maricá (Apalma) obtained an injunction in court preventing the construction of new projects in the APA. Even with this unfavorable decision, IDB Brasil managed to get the State Institute of the Environment (Inea), linked to the government of the state of Rio, to approve the prior licensing of the project in 2015 and the installation license in 2021. In the same year, the stone A fundamental part of the works was launched at an event with the support of the state government. The STJ decided, still in 2021, to restore the validity of the 2013 injunction that prevented construction on the restinga. The Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) also denied appeals from IDB Brasil and maintained the impediment of the project in April 2022. The Judiciary of the District of Maricá ordered the cancellation of the licenses issued by Inea in August. A new turnaround happened in September, when the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro overturned the decision of the district and released the licensing process for the enterprise. It was based on this that the works were started in the APA of Maricá by IDB Brasil. Company note In a note, IDB Brasil said that it “received with great sadness the news about the precautionary stoppage of the enterprise, but is convinced that the enterprise is the solution for the environmental conservation of the Environmental Protection Area of Maricá, for the development sustainable development of the municipality and the State of Rio and to improve Brazil’s tourism capacity”. The company also said that it will work to “reverse the decision and complete the installation of Maraey”.
Agência Brasil
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