Beef producers in Brazil could be fined more than A$280 Million as federal prosecutors crack down on illegal ranching in the rain forest.

Brazilian laws ban producers from buying cattle from ranches that use recently deforested areas in the Amazon or indigenous reservations.  Twenty-six beef producers are accused of buying more than 55 Thousand head of illicit cattle during the first nine months of 2012.

The companies put themselves on the Feds’ radar by refusing to sign an agreement that basically said they’d obey the law regarding cattle sourcing.

Brazil has been getting more and more serious about protecting the rainforest.  Forest clearing from mid 2011 to mid 2012 was more than 80 percent lower compared with the same period in 2003 and 2004.

Unrelated to cattle but still in protection of the rainforest, a Federal Judge in Brazil is ordering the cops and military to stop harassing indigenous protesters of a massive dam project.  It’s a rebuke of President Dilma Rousseff who approved the use of troops.  The judge says Brazilian law gives the Munduruku indigenous group the right to give or withhold its free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) before the government can go forward with the controversial Sao Luiz do Tapajos Dam project.