Hamilton Mourao, Vice President of Brazil, invited actor
Leonardo DiCaprio to visit the Amazon to see the reality of the situation
there, as the government faces criticisms for rising destruction in the world’s
largest rainforest, reported news agency Reuters.

Mourao said that DiCaprio, an environmental
campaigner, should go with
him personally on a journey along a notoriously ill-maintained road in the
remote far western Amazon near the town of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira.

“I would like to invite our most recent critic, Leonardo DiCaprio,
to go with me to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira to do an eight-hour ride through the
jungle between the Sao Gabriel airport and the Cucui highway,” Mourao said

“He will learn with each big pothole that he has to pass that
the Amazon is not a flat land and understand better how things work in this
vast region.”

Representatives for DiCaprio did not immediately respond to
request for comment.

The surge in fires in Amazon provoked global
outcry last year, after which Brazilian
right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro accused DiCaprio of funding fires in the
Amazon, without presenting any evidence. DiCaprio denied the allegation.

This year, the number of fires rose in June and July compared to
a year ago, but in the first 15 days of August, fires were down 17% compared to
a year ago, according to government data.

Deforestation is up 34.5% in the 12 months through July,
compared to the same period a year ago, preliminary government data shows.

DiCaprio has a foundation dedicated to the environment and has
called for Amazon preservation. Scientists say the Amazon is vital to curbing
climate change, because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas that the forest
absorbs.