A picturesque setting of the “Terra e Paixão” soap opera, the Annalu Farm in Deodápolis, which hit the news this week for accumulating a list of environmental violations, is just one of the rural properties managed by the Valor Group. The family enterprise manages a total of 50,000 hectares in the State, as disclosed by the agribusiness itself on the internet, and the environmental damages are not limited to the 1,600 hectares where the Globo Network’s team filmed scenes of the soap opera, according to research by the De Olho nos Ruralistas observatory.
Behind the scenes, the farm, renamed “La Selva” in the soap opera, came under the scrutiny of the Public Ministry of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2016, when a specialized unit using satellite images identified a percentage of legal reserve below that required by law – only 7.45%, while the Forest Code stipulates that 20% of the total area must be preserved. In addition to illegal deforestation, during the investigation, the MPMS detected problems such as illegal storage and dumping of pesticides, diversion of watercourses for fish farming, and the raising of animals without environmental licensing.
The owners of the Annalu Farm, Aurélio Rolim Rocha, known as “Lelinho”, who is also a director of the Valor Group, and his cousin, Nilton Fernando Rocha Filho, became the targets of an investigation opened in 2018, and signed a TAC (Conduct Adjustment Term) on March 31, 2022, less than a year before the start of filming. The two committed to repairing the environmental damage and regularizing their activities, but there are still pending issues.
Similar irregularities were found in other properties of the group – which grows soybeans and corn, raises cattle and fish. According to national investigations, the oldest violation dates back to 2000, when Nilton Rocha Filho, Lelinho’s grandfather, received three fines from Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) for deforesting 194 hectares of a forest reserve in Dourados (MS). Of the R$ 364,000 in fines imposed by the agency, the farmer paid R$ 160,000 after legal action.
Reporters Tonsk Fialho and Carolina Bataier also found a fine from Ibama against Nilton Rocha Filho in 2015. Lelinho’s grandfather and Nilton Fernando had failed to comply with the environmental agency’s order to take control measures to stop the environmental degradation at the Vaca Mocha Farm in Caracol (MS), and paid a fine of R$10,000.
According to satellite images from the Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) consulted by De Olho nos Ruralistas, the degraded area within the property totals 1,862.74 hectares – more than half of the total area, with 3,629.40 hectares.
Years later, in 2018, the farmer was investigated by the MP for environmental damage caused to the banks of the Apa River, involving the suppression of vegetation in a preservation area.
The observatory also revealed that the Rocha family is implicated in a civil inquiry opened by the MP of Dourados (MS) to investigate the deforestation of “all permanent preservation areas and Legal Reserves” of the Miya Farm. Members of the family were also fined for deforestation at Sítio Novo Oeste in Caarapó, and at the Retiro da Conceição and Baía das Conchas farms in Porto Murtinho.
According to the national site’s investigation, Lelinho and his cousin also own the 633-hectare Prateada Farm. Located south of the Annalu Farm, it was annexed to the “Terra e Paixão” property and, like the larger property, was also under the scrutiny of the Public Ministry. A public civil action was filed against the former owner Agropecuária Riber, which agreed to an TAC to carry out the environmental recovery of the Permanent Preservation Areas of the Mutuca and Iretã streams. In this case, the current owners complied with the terms of the agreement in 2022.
De Olho nos Ruralistas attempted to contact the Valor Group before releasing the series of reports on Wednesday (17), but did not receive a response.
