A FORMER high-flying financier who quit the board room to fight poverty is set to visit Brazil to campaign against deforestation.

Tony Sheen, 47, of Whitethorn Gardens, has been fighting for people in one of the world's poorest areas since 2006 when he gave up his job as vice-president of financial firm JP Morgan to pursue charity work.

The father-of-three will travel to the state of Pará – one of the most heavily logged regions of the rainforest – as a representative of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).

He said: “I am naturally apprehensive about visiting such a dangerous area, but I feel it is important to stand alongside the poor in Brazil whose rights are often trampled on by rich landowners.

“It's a dreadful situation and utterly indefensible people are exploiting the land and the law.

“We want to be vocal about these things with the Brazilian and British governments.”

According to figures from CAFOD, four murders have taken place in the past month in the region – part of an ongoing conflict over land and logging.

Campaigners say that small farmers are being made to leave their land to make way for cattle ranches and mines.

They want the Brazilian government to stop deforestation, release imprisoned environmental activists and hunt down criminal landowners.

Mr Sheen added: “The Brazilian government are sensitive to international pressure and they do react to stories in the foreign press and protests abroad.

“We need to show them that people all over the world care about the problems in the rainforest.”

The former St Ignatious College pupil will fly to the country on July 11, spending two weeks lobbying politicians and joining a procession to mark the deaths of activists.