Santa Catarina court upholds 15 forest cases begun by MapBiomas Alerta

Santa Catarina's Court of Justice upheld police enforcement in 15 decisions from 2023 to 2025 on Atlantic Forest clearing that MapBiomas alerts had flagged. None rejected the satellite evidence.

  • 2 for an organization

    Alerts led police patrols to cleared areas of 0.99 to 11.05 hectares, and the court decided for the enforcement in all 15 appeals.

  • Not rated society

    The decisions record convictions, a restoration order and infraction notices, but none reports whether forest grew back or whether clearing fell.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Reported benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

15 independent court documents support the benefit.

The system’s part
Not isolated. The decisions do not describe how the alerts are made, and none compares enforcement with and without them. MapBiomas's method page says that it compiles alerts from other detection systems, including SAD Mata Atlântica of SOS Mata Atlântica and ArcPlan. It says that trained analysts check each alert visually on Planet and Sentinel-2 images. It adds that a supervised Random Forest classifier in Google Earth Engine then refines the outline of each confirmed clearing. That refinement is the machine-learning step that MapBiomas documents. One officer named SOS Mata Atlântica as the source of an alert. The decisions do not show which version of the method applied to alerts from 2019 to 2023. Where the decisions describe the inspections, officers checked each alert on site before they acted.
Not yet checked
LimitsCosts and harmsLearns from dataLater outcome

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Benefit type
Improved Environmental Sustainability
System
MapBiomas Alerta (the decisions call it 'MapBiomas', 'Mapa Biomas' or 'MapBiomas Alerta')
Made by
MapBiomas (MapBiomas Alerta), which compiles source alerts from other detection systems
Used by
Polícia Militar Ambiental de Santa Catarina (Santa Catarina's military environmental police), mostly in the yearly Operação Mata Atlântica em Pé with the Ministério Público de Santa Catarina
Where
Santa Catarina, Brazil (rural properties in Canoinhas, Mafra, Rio Negrinho, Santa Cecília, Lebon Régis and other municipalities)
Stage
In routine use
Date
, when the source was published
Kind
Protective response
Broad benefit
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
Collections
Scrutiny and findings, Safeguards
Last revised
1 November 2026

Sources

  1. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5000081-75.2022.8.24.0056 (Santa Cecília), Rel. Des. Subst. Claudio Eduardo Regis de Figueiredo e Silva. Judgment of 29 July 2025. Appeal partly granted: convictions for destroying forest upheld, acquittal on a separate count of cutting hardwood and a lighter sentence.

    receberam um alerta de desmatamento pela plataforma Mapbiomas e que, no local, foi constatado que realmente houve o dano ambiental

  2. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 1ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5000347-03.2021.8.24.0087 (Lauro Müller), Rel. Des. Ariovaldo Rogério Ribeiro da Silva. Judgment of 3 August 2023. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    localizou um desmatamento no terreno no Alerta MAPBIOMA134569

  3. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 1ª Câmara de Direito Público. Apelação nº 5001061-23.2022.8.24.0088 (Lebon Régis), Rel. Des. Paulo Henrique Moritz Martins da Silva. Judgment of 22 August 2023. Civil public action. Appeal denied, which upheld a restoration order and R$37,000 in collective moral damages.

    para averiguar um alerta emitido pelo MapBiomas

  4. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5001035-59.2021.8.24.0088 (Lebon Régis), Rel. Des. Ricardo Roesler. Judgment of 10 October 2023. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    As condutas foram verificadas em 14-8-2020, a partir de alerta de desmatamento emitido pelo Sistema Mapbiomapas Alerta (ID n. 134802)

  5. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 4ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5002230-89.2022.8.24.0041 (Mafra), Rel. Des. Luiz Antônio Zanini Fornerolli. Judgment of 30 November 2023. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    conforme o mapa apresentado pela plataforma MapBiomasAlerta, o dano ambiental teria ocorrido entre os meses de abril e outubro de 2020

  6. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5003232-86.2021.8.24.0055 (Rio Negrinho), Rel. Des. Leopoldo Augusto Brüggemann. Judgment of 25 June 2024. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    retirados da plataforma do mapa biomas, onde, por meio de imagens de

  7. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 2ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5002238-81.2021.8.24.0015 (Canoinhas), Rel. Des. Sérgio Rizelo. Judgment of 3 September 2024. Appeal partly granted: conviction upheld, minimum compensation removed and penalty reduced.

    das imagens registradas pelo mapa biomas

  8. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 4ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5000082-60.2022.8.24.0056 (Santa Cecília), Rel. Des. Alexandre d'Ivanenko. Judgment of 14 November 2024. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    houve um alerta de desmatamento na plataforma Mapbiomas

  9. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 4ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5004590-41.2023.8.24.0015 (Canoinhas), Rel. Des. Subst. Mauricio Cavallazzi Povoas. Judgment of 6 February 2025. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    foi motivada por um alerta de desmatamento emitido pela plataforma MapBiomas

  10. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5003114-65.2023.8.24.0015 (Canoinhas), Rel. Des. Subst. Claudio Eduardo Regis de Figueiredo e Silva. Judgment of 25 March 2025. Prosecution's appeal partly granted: acquittal reversed and the defendant convicted.

    que houve um alerta da plataforma Mapa Biomas, a qual identifica os locais em que houve

  11. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 1ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5002168-94.2023.8.24.0047 (Papanduva), Rel. Des. Ana Lia Moura Lisboa Carneiro. Judgment of 24 April 2025. Prosecution's appeal granted: acquittal reversed and the defendant convicted.

    tendo em vista um alerta de desmatamento emitido pela plataforma "Mapa Biomas"; que de acordo com o alerta, houve um suposto crime ambiental no local

  12. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5001660-94.2022.8.24.0141 (Presidente Getúlio), Rel. Des. Subst. Claudio Eduardo Regis de Figueiredo e Silva. Judgment of 27 May 2025. Appeal heard in part and denied, which upheld the conviction.

    em atendimento a um alerta emitido pelo sistema MapBiomas

  13. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 3ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5001534-74.2023.8.24.0055 (Rio Negrinho), Rel. Des. Subst. Claudio Eduardo Regis de Figueiredo e Silva. Judgment of 22 July 2025. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    as imagens que deram origem ao alerta emitido pelo MapBiomas indicam que a

  14. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 1ª Câmara Criminal. Apelação Criminal nº 5000316-04.2024.8.24.0143 (Rio do Campo), Rel. Des. Carlos Alberto Civinski. Judgment of 24 July 2025. Appeal denied and conviction upheld.

    um alerta do site Mapa Biomas

  15. Court document, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), 1ª Câmara de Direito Público. Agravo Interno em Apelação nº 5001089-98.2023.8.24.0041, Rel. Des. Jairo Fernandes Gonçalves. Judgment of 2 September 2025. Internal appeal denied, which upheld the refusal to annul the infraction notices.

    o alerta gerado pela plataforma mapabiomas

  16. Other, by the makers. Context or contrary evidence.

    MapBiomas. Método MapBiomas Alerta (method page of the MapBiomas Alerta platform), Etapa 3: Refinamento nas imagens de alta e média resolução. Accessed 1 November 2026.

    A geração do polígono refinado é feita com uso de um algoritmo de classificação supervisionada (Random Forest), que é processado na plataforma Google Earth Engine

Details

AI system

Workflow

MapBiomas Alerta published deforestation alerts with polygons over rural properties in Santa Catarina. The military environmental police received the alerts, mostly during the yearly Operação Mata Atlântica em Pé with the Ministério Público de Santa Catarina. Officers inspected the alerts on site, mapped the clearings with drones and compared older satellite images to date them. The police issued infraction notices and embargoes, and prosecutors brought criminal charges or civil actions.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

Officers must check each alert on the ground, because some alerts missed, understated or overstated a clearing. The police must link each alert polygon to the person responsible for the land. Courts must accept police inspection reports, drone surveys and satellite images without a formal forensic examination.

Entry details

Sector

Environmental enforcement: Atlantic Forest clearing.

Purpose

MapBiomas built MapBiomas Alerta to compile, validate and refine deforestation alerts from detection systems across Brazil and to publish each confirmed clearing with a report.

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Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Santa Catarina court upholds 15 forest cases begun by MapBiomas Alerta (AIBD-1120). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1120.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)

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