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Bill advancing in Congress could limit remote embargoes made with satellite images, change Ibama’s actions against illegally deforested areas, weaken a strategy used since 2016, and reignite the dispute between environmental enforcement, the rural caucus, rural credit, and the preservation of the Brazilian Amazon
An environmental dispute with major political impact has advanced in the National Congress and placed the Ibama at the center of new pressure from the rural caucus. The discussion focuses on so-called remote embargoes, applied with the support of satellite images to block illegally deforested areas in the Amazon.
In May 2025, politicians and farmers from Pará traveled to Brasília to protest against embargoes applied to 544 rural properties in Altamira, a municipality considered one of the main deforestation hotspots in the Amazon rainforest.
The areas were blocked after illegal clearings were identified by satellite monitoring systems. Based on this information, environmental agents prevented the use of the land for livestock and agriculture.
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Almost a year later, the conflict gained strength within Congress with a bill that seeks to prohibit this type of remote inspection.
Satellite monitoring becomes target of bill in Congress
Currently, Ibama uses satellite images to locate deforested areas in different regions of the country. After identification, agents verify if there is a valid environmental authorization for the clearing of vegetation.
If there is no license, the embargo is applied directly by the environmental agency’s systems, functioning as a preventive measure against the advance of degradation.
According to information cited in the base text, approximately 90% of deforestation recorded in the Amazon occurs illegally.
According to Wallace Lopes, representative of Ascema, the cross-referencing of high-resolution images with environmental databases has significantly increased the efficiency of federal enforcement.
Furthermore, the remote model expanded Ibama’s operational capacity in isolated and hard-to-reach regions.
Photo: Bruno Kelly for The Intercept Brasil
Remote embargoes increased reach and reduced costs
According to Jair Schmitt, environmental protection director and interim president of Ibama, the agency applies about 4,000 embargoes per year in the Amazon, totaling approximately 500,000 hectares blocked. Half of these measures already occur remotely.
While an agent in the field can issue about two embargoes per day, the remote system allows up to ten daily blocks.
The difference also appears in costs. According to Schmitt, an in-person embargo costs approximately R$ 50 per hectare, while a remote one reduces this value to about R$ 3.54 per hectare.
In addition to operational reduction, the model reduces long displacements within the forest and accelerates the response against environmental crimes.
Bill changes rules before embargo application
The proposal under consideration in Congress changes the current functioning of environmental enforcement. According to the text, Ibama would have to notify rural landowners in advance before applying the embargo. Thus, producers could present a defense before the restriction takes effect.
Today, however, the appeal only occurs after the application of the precautionary measure. According to environmentalists, the speed of the action is precisely the factor that prevents the immediate advance of illegal activities.
Furthermore, embargoed properties are prevented from accessing public rural credit. These areas can also be excluded from supplier lists of slaughterhouses and large grain traders.
According to Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, this financial restriction creates direct economic pressure on offenders.
Destruction Package increases environmental tension in Brasília
The project is part of the so-called Destruction Package, a set of approximately 70 proposals currently being processed in the National Congress.
According to environmentalists, these measures weaken environmental rules and indigenous rights to the benefit of illegal deforesters, land grabbers, and wildcat miners.
In 2025, one of the approved proposals relaxed the environmental licensing framework.
Experts classified the change as one of the biggest environmental setbacks of recent decades.
In 2026, the scenario gained even more attention due to the parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
According to the Climate Observatory, anti-environmental projects tend to gain strength during electoral periods linked to the pursuit of re-election.
Destruction of machinery also targeted by the project
The text also questions precautionary measures used by environmental agencies during inspection operations.
These include the seizure and destruction of equipment used in environmental crimes.
According to the base text, these actions appear in about 70% of Ibama’s operations.
In operations against illegal mining, for example, agents often disable dredges and excavators found deep in the forest.
According to Wallace Lopes, leaving the equipment on site allows it to quickly return to illegal activity.
Therefore, the destruction of machinery aims to prevent the immediate continuation of environmental damage.
Jair Schmitt states that these measures directly affect the instruments used in environmental crime and, precisely for this reason, generate a strong reaction from offenders.
Satellites helped reduce deforestation in the Amazon
Since 2016, Ibama has used satellite images to detect illegal deforestation and apply environmental embargoes throughout the country.
In 2023, with Marina Silva once again at the Ministry of Environment, the strategy was intensified. The goal was to compensate for the reduced number of inspectors available to operate in all Brazilian biomes.
According to the data cited in the base text, Ibama has only 750 agents for national operations.
For Márcio Astrini, the use of technology directly helped reduce deforestation rates recorded during the current administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Furthermore, remote monitoring expanded the reach of operations in more isolated areas of the Amazon.
Chamber approved urgency, and vote can happen at any moment
The Chamber of Deputies approved the urgency regime for the project. As a result, the proposal can be voted on at any moment in the National Congress.
For Jair Schmitt, trying to block remote embargoes means abandoning modern environmental inspection tools.
Meanwhile, environmentalists warn that the project could weaken one of the most efficient strategies ever used by Brazil against illegal deforestation.
Should the country expand the use of technology to protect the Amazon or limit environmental monitoring done by satellites?
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