With little fanfare and virtually no publicity, lawmakers in the Brazilian state of Rondonia have passed legislation in favor of hundreds of cattle ranchers who had illegally converted swathes of Amazon rainforest into pasture land.
The new legislation, which was passed April 28 and took effect immediately, also grants amnesty to slaughterhouses that purchased cattle illegally raised inside what had been the Jaci-Parana conservation area, which the new law effectively dissolves.
