Mato Grosso launches first itinerant environmental conciliation mutirão in Apiacás

On Wednesday, 1 May, the municipality of Apiacás, 972 km from Cuiabá, hosted the first itinerant environmental conciliation mutirão. The event was organized by the State Environment Secretariat (Sema) together with the State Attorney General's Office, the Judiciary, the Public Ministry, the Public Defender’s Office and the OAB‑MT.

A total of 145 cases involving environmental fines, seizures and embargoes from Apiacás and Guarantã do Norte were submitted for conciliation. Forty‑five of these proceedings are in the administrative sphere, while the remainder are under civil inquiry or public civil actions. More than half of Apiacás’s territory lies within indigenous lands and conservation units, and hundreds of small producers have been cited for violations.

Sema secretary Mauren Lazzaretti said the goal is to provide low‑income citizens with “regularisation possibilities, solutions for the infractions applied and alternatives for environmental regularisation of their rural properties,” enabling them to operate legally and access credit. Promoter Adalberto Biazotto emphasized that the mutirão “complies fully with the law, environmental protection and complete damage recovery,” and noted a conduct‑adjustment term was crafted to reflect the realities of the local small‑holder community that had been misled when acquiring land.