A renowned landscape architect has died in a plane crash alongside three others in Brazil.

Kongjian Yu was killed when the small aircraft crashed on Tuesday evening while attempting to land at a large farm around 62 miles from the town of Aquidauana in the country’s Mato Grosso do Sul state.

There was no immediate information on what caused the crash.

Yu, a distinguished Chinese landscape architect and urban planner, gained global relevance after the Chinese government adopted his concept of “sponge cities,” which utilise nature-based solutions to absorb and retain water, rather than relying on concrete infrastructure to channel it away.

His concept aimed to mitigate the impact of climate change, arguing that by creating large spaces to hold water in city centres, such as parks and ponds, extreme rainfall can be absorbed, helping prevent floods.

The concept has since been adopted in hundreds of places in China as well as urban areas from the US to Russia.

Yu founded the College of Architecture and Landscape at Peking University, one of China’s most prestigious universities.

Geraldo Alckmin, Brazil’s vice president, confirmed Yu was killed alongside pilot Marcelo Pereira de Barros and filmmakers Luiz Fernando Feres da Cunha Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Jr.

Mr Alckmin posted on X: “Professor Yu became renowned for creating the concept of sponge cities, with notable contributions to sustainable urbanism, the preservation of biodiversity, and the protection of the planet.

“His legacy will continue to inspire all those dedicated to the ecological cause.”

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Emergency crews were alerted to the crash at about 8.10pm local time. A search and rescue operation lasted approximately nine hours.

Yu and the filmmakers were part of a team producing a documentary about the Pantanal wetlands, the world’s largest tropical wetlands.

The Pantanal, fed by tributaries of the Paraguay River and mostly located in Brazil, is a biodiversity hotspot and a popular destination for tourists to see jaguars, macaws, caimans, capybaras and migratory birds in the wild.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2022, Yu criticized much of Asia’s modern infrastructure for being built on ideas imported from Europe, which he said were ill-fitted to the monsoon climate that prevails over much of the continent.

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A charity has been forced to deny Nigel Farage’s claims that swans are being eaten by eastern Europeans in London’s Royal Parks.

The Reform UK leader had accused migrants living in the UK of taking both carp and swans – a protected species – from ponds in Britain’s Royal Parks and killing them.

He said: “If I said to you that swans were being eaten in Royal Parks in this country, that carp were being taken out of ponds and eaten in this country by people who come from cultures that have a different… would you agree it happened, is happening here?”

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Asked who he believes is doing this, Mr Farage told LBC it was “people who come from countries where it’s quite acceptable to do so”.

Pressed on whether it was eastern Europeans, he said: “So I believe.”

Swans are protected in the UK by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to kill, harm or disturb them.

Shortly after Mr Farage made his claim, a spokesperson for the Royal Parks said “no incidents” or people “killing or eating swans” have been reported.

They said: “We’ve not had any incidents reported to us of people killing or eating swans in London’s eight Royal Parks.

“Our wildlife officers work closely with the Swan Sanctuary to ensure the welfare of the swans across the parks.”

Mr Farage’s claims about eastern Europeans eating swans are reminiscent of US President Donald Trump’s claims that Haitian migrants were killing Americans’ pets.

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He said in a presidential debate last year: “In Springfield, they are eating the dogs.

“The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.”

This was dismissed as a “dangerous conspiracy theory” by the US National Security Council spokesperson at the time.