A justice on Brazil 's Supreme Court on Monday ordered the federal government to seize private properties when owners are found responsible for illegal deforestation or wildfires.
The landmark ruling, which could be appealed, also directs the federal and state governments to adopt measures that block regularization, a process by which illegally-acquired land becomes legal. The expectation of regularization has been one of the main drivers of deforestation in the Amazon. Land-grabbers clear land in the hope that it will eventually be titled thanks to lax land laws or government amnesties.
