Brazilian Environmentalist Dies After Fire Protest

A leading Brazilian environmental campaigner has died after setting himself on fire to protest against the construction of an alcohol plant in the fragile Pantanal marsh region.

Francisco Anselmo de Barros suffered 100% burns after wrapping himself in a burning duvet during a demonstration in the centre of Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, on Saturday.

Officials at the Santa Casa hospital confirmed that the 65-year-old died in intensive care on Sunday.

Mr Barros was the president of the Foundation for Nature Conservation in Mato Grosso do Sul state. He founded the organisation in 1980.

He consistently campaigned against the construction of factories in the Pantanal basin after two were built in the area 20 years ago.

On Saturday around 500 people gathered in the Campo Grande to condemn new attempts to refine sugar cane in the region and collect signatures for a petition to present to the state government.

The government is currently debating a project to build sugar cane alcohol plants on the upper Paraguay river, which runs through the world's largest wetlands area. Alcohol is widely used as car fuel in Brazil.

Ecologists say the delicate environmental balance of the Pantanal and the western Amazon are threatened by the proposed plantations.

In a series of letters left to his family and friends, Mr Barros wrote that he "did what he did as the only way to wake the people up" to the environmental threat.

He appeared to have been disappointed that his campaigning did not have a wider effect. "Who knows if this isn't the only way to stop this?" he wrote.