ICMBio combats illegal extraction of juçara palm heart in Rio de Janeiro

On last Friday (30), enforcement teams from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), in a joint action with the Secretariat of Agriculture and Environment of Nova Iguaçu (RJ), carried out an operation to combat the illegal extraction of juçara palm hearts (Euterpe edulis) in the interior of the Tinguá Biological Reserve (Rebio), in the Jaceruba region. The action resulted in the arrest of a suspect and the seizure of 72 units of juçara palm hearts, a species native to the Atlantic Forest and currently threatened with extinction, whose removal is prohibited by law. The offender was cited and received environmental fines totaling R$ 75 thousand. The arrest is the result of about six months of investigation, initiated after the launch of Operation Juçara. Since then, the trail used for access to the area had been monitored by the teams due to recurring indications of environmental crimes in the region. The clandestine trade of juçara palm hearts, in addition ...