Brazil's environment minister has been heckled by protesters amid growing international outrage over deforestation and the major forest fires in the Amazon.
The country's space agency has said there's been a record number of fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest this year.
The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said there have been 74,155 fires detected so far this year - the highest number since records began and an 84% rise on the same period last year.
Environment minister Ricardo Salles yesterday attended in a climate conference in the city of Salvador, but took to the stage to the sound of loud boos from protesters in the audience:
VIDEO: 🇧🇷 Dozens of protesters boo Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles during a climate conference in the northern city of Salvador pic.twitter.com/jxUTvFuRLj
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 21, 2019
INPE previously warned that there has been a huge increase in destruction of the Brazilian rainforest since Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro came to power.
Data released earlier this summer warned that the area endured 88% more deforestation in June than it did in the same month last year.
President Bolsonaro responded by sacking the head of the agency.
The right-wing president has attempted to downplay the ongoing forest fires, suggesting it is simply the time of year when farmers clear land.
Yesterday he also appeared to claim non-governmental organisations may be setting the fires in a bid to embarrass his government.
Conservation groups and scientists have called for action to combat the wildfires.
Kerry Cesareo, senior vice president of forests at World Wildlife Fund said the fires are "devastating but not surprising".
She argued: "Conserving the Amazon, and other areas like it, is essential to conserving our planet.
"As one of the world’s most iconic forests burns, it’s absolutely critical to consider how we are using this valuable resource and work to prevent the kind of disaster we are seeing today.
"That means deliberate conservation strategies that end deforestation and mitigate and adapt to climate change."
