Ecological justice in practice: The case of Lagoa da Conceição, SC (Brazil)
José Rubens Morato Leite, Isabel Pinheiro de Paula Couto, Iasna Chaves Viana, UFSC
2025
The Lagoa da Conceição District in Florianópolis originated from the Royal Provision of 07/06/1750. The current area that composes it is estimated at 55.28 km2, with its center called “Freguesia da Lagoa”, also known as “Centrinho da Lagoa”. In addition to the “Freguesia”, it is also composed of the regions of “Canto da Lagoa”, “Barra da Lagoa”, “Retiro da Lagoa”, “Costa da Lagoa”, “Canto dos Araças”, “Praia da Galheta”, “Parque da Galheta”, “Praia Mole”, “Praia da Joaquina” and “Porto da Lagoa”.
It is important to highlight, in addition, that the references to the first societies that inhabited this region allude to the following peoples: “Sambaquis”, “Itararés” and “Carijós”. Regarding the first, according to research, it is believed that they were originally residents of the Island. This community lived basically from gathering fruits and hunting land and sea animals. They also used to make tools, weapons and ornaments from the bones of the animals they ate.
Lagoa da Conceição (before the 2021 accident). Ph. Todd Southgate.
The abundance of cultural values in this region is multiple, given the importance of archaeological sites due to their characteristic of preserving testimonies and evidence of activities from the historical past of a designated place. Thus, this location also holds relevance in historical conservation, especially from the people who also make up and are part of its local identity.
Thus, the immense importance of preserving the local cultural and traditional values is evident, since the conservation of the region symbolizes more than just a territory, as it encompasses subjective values that go far beyond its geographical demarcation. Preserving its history means perpetuating these values intergenerationally, redefining human principles intrinsic to previous generations, taking the teachings connected to Nature forward.
On January 25, 2021, the Evapo Infiltration Lagoon (LEI) dam in the Parque Natural das Dunas collapsed. The event culminated in sewage flowing into Lagoa da Conceição, causing the flooding of several homes of residents in the surrounding area. Approximately 50 (fifty) families were directly affected, which occurred precisely during the most critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in major socio-environmental degradation in the region. The water quality of this local ecosystem was severely aggravated.
The environmental damage. Ph. Todd Southgate.
The change in water quality of Lagoa da Conceição. Ph. Todd Southgate.
This event resulted in a Structural Class Action originated from university extension activities linked to the Postgraduate Program in Law (PPGD) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). A team of professors and students interacted with representatives of organized civil society and provided the legal assistance necessary for maximum protection of the environment.
This kind of action is used in cases where an isolated judicial decision is not sufficient to resolve the problem brought to the Judiciary. The structural process is organized based on closer monitoring and, not infrequently, the adoption of cascading decisions, aiming to ensure compliance with previous decisions. From the aforementioned articulation, developed with a focus on the participation of the various actors that make up the Lagoa da Conceição scenario, the Class Action was instituted (Case No. 5012843-56.2021.4.04.7200/SC, in progress before the 6th Federal Court of Florianópolis/SC). The NGO Costa Legal; the Florianopolitana Association of Community Entities (UFECO) and the Pachamama Association act in active litigation, protecting diffuse environmental rights, as well as the autonomous rights of Lagoa da Conceição, from the perspective of the intrinsic values of Nature, as well as intergenerational and immaterial.
Civil society movement for the protection of Lagoa da Conceição. Ph. Todd Southgate.
Lagoa da Conceição is an intangible asset for the city and for the population of Florianópolis. There is a strong social feeling of appreciation for Lagoa da Conceição. According to art. 133 of the respective Organic Law of the Municipality, including after the approval of Amendment No. 47 of 2019, the need to promote diversity and harmony with Nature was established, preserving, recovering, restoring and expanding natural ecosystems, attributing to Nature the condition of subject of rights.
From then on, it is expected that it will be possible to effectively adopt structural measures, with progressive implementation, that ensure maximum protection of Lagoa da Conceição. The model has the potential to serve as a paradigm, changing the appearance and enhancing the results of similar lawsuits. It is important to highlight that the Lagoa Structural Class Action is in the spotlight in the international legal community, as it was recently included in the database of the
Sabin Center for Climate Litigation, at Columbia University, as a strategic achievement that
demonstrates progress in the management and protection of common assets. Finally, the extent of the damage continues to this day, even more than three years after the incident, which characterizes the “long-term” element. The damage has even been worsened by the redirection of effluents from LEI 1 into the Parque das Dunas, forming LEI 4, in addition to the pipes and tubes on top of the dunes and sandbanks, actions that are harmful to the site and to people who pass by nearby, considering that the park is open to visitors, promotes environmental education and interpretation, recreation in contact with Nature and ecological tourism, as well as allows scientific research.
In the context of the review of values and the need to adopt a paradigm that encompasses the
systemic integrity of the multiple interactions of the various social and ecological actors, the innovative approach of Ecological Law was proposed. The Structural Class Action of Lagoa da Conceição, built collectively, represents the notion of ecological law in practice. This perception originates from the observation that, despite the advances in Brazilian Environmental Law, its transformation is necessary to contemplate a paradigm that considers the ecocentric approach as a parameter for achieving ecological justice.
The literature review has historically indicated the emergence of a critique of the forms of development of society that lead humanity into the ecological and social abyss, since they exclude the needs of the socio ecological whole to guarantee only human needs through environmental protection. This scenario constitutes the core of the urgent need to overcome old archetypes of Environmental Law, introducing, from Ecological Law, the notion of the interdependence of socioeconomic and ecological systems, in which the need to preserve Nature comes from the human awareness of an egalitarian paradigm.
Further readings and resources:
Barbosa, T.C.P. (2003). Ecolagoa: um breve documento sobre a ecologia da Bacia Hidrográfica
da Lagoa da Conceição. Florianópolis: Editora Gráfica Pallotti, p. 11.
Capra F., Mattei U. (2015). The Ecology of Law: Toward a Legal System in Tune with Nature
and Community. Berrett-Koehler.
GeoDireito Project. Florianópolis, SC: Federal University of Santa Catarina/UFSC, 2024.
https://geodireitolagoa.ufsc.br/informacoes.php#sobre.
Research Group Environmental Law and Political Ecology in the Risk Society (GPDA).
Technical opinions of the Class Action (structural ACP) for the Lagoa da Conceição (LC).
Federal University of Santa Catarina – GPDA/UFSC, Florianópolis, [2021].
https://gpda.ufsc.br/?p=1712.
Rial, C. (1990). Mar de Dentro: A Transformação do Espaço Social na Lagoa da Conceição,
Congresso Luso-Afro-Brasileiro, Coimbra.