ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL PROTECTION IN THE FACE OF FOREST FIRES IN THE RONDÔNIA AMAZON AND THEIR IMPACTS ON TRADITIONALLY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Abstract

The article analyzes the effectiveness of environmental criminal protection in addressing forest fires in the Rondônia Amazon, with special attention to the impacts on Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. It starts from the premise that an ecologically balanced environment is a fundamental right guaranteed by the 1988 Federal Constitution and that criminal protection is a relevant instrument for repressing conduct harmful to flora and ecological balance. The study adopts a qualitative approach, using a legal-dogmatic method based on bibliographic, normative, doctrinal, and jurisprudential review. The findings indicate that forest fires in Rondônia are not isolated events, but part of a structural dynamic of environmental degradation associated with economic expansion, predatory land use, and the fragility of state control mechanisms. Although Law No. 9,605/1998 provides an important normative basis, its effectiveness is limited by obstacles such as procedural delays, evidentiary difficulties, challenges in identifying individual perpetrators, and the low deterrent effect of criminal sanctions. The study also highlights that fires produce not only ecological damage, but also directly affect traditionally occupied territories, compromising biodiversity, ways of life, cultural identity, and the territorial rights of these populations. It concludes that environmental criminal protection is legally necessary, but depends on stronger state action, institutional coordination, and improved enforcement in order to achieve effective socio-environmental protection.