Brazil court suspends decree allowing Amazon reserve mining

A Brazilian court on Wednesday suspended a government decree that would open a huge Amazon reserve to commercial mining, after the initial decision sparked outrage from environmental groups, the Catholic Church and even supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

The federal court in the capital Brasilia said in a statement it had “partially granted an injunction to immediately suspend any administrative act” aimed at scrapping the Denmark- sized reserve, known as Renca.

The order from Judge Rolando Spanholo “suspends pos- sible administrative acts based on the decree” signed by President Michel Temer last week.

Spanholo said that the government had failed to consult Congress, as required under the constitution, and that the decree would “put at risk the environmental protection [ of Renca] and the protection of local indigenous communities.”

The center- right government’s lawyer immediately said it would appeal.

The Renca reserve in the eastern Amazon is home to the indigenous Aparai, Wayana and Wajapi tribes and vast swaths of untouched forest, covering more than 46,000 square kilometers.

Temer says that opening up the gold and mineral- rich area to mining is part of his program to boost Brazil’s weak economy.

The government insists that vital areas within the reserve, including where indigenous people live, will remain off limits. However, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, Bundchen and other celebrities, as well as Brazil’s influential Catholic hierarchy, have pushed back in an unusually broad- based campaign for Latin America’s biggest country.

“Pressure is working. We mustn’t stop,” Greenpeace said after the court ruling.

The federal prosecutor’s office, which said the decree threatened “ecocide,” and asked for the court injunction.

“This is the moment when we need to say ‘ not a single step back,’” environmental campaigner Marina Silva said.

“Brazilian society must mobilize to stop any advance of these regressive measures.”