When Leonardo DiCaprio won a best actor Oscar in 2016, a moment that became the most viewed best actor speech on YouTube, he closed his remarks with a passionate plea about climate change and its impact on the environment. “Let us not take this planet for granted,” he said.
Ten years after that night, DiCaprio is furthering his fight to focus on the betterment of the planet by turning his attention to its most vulnerable creatures with the formation of the Phoenix Species Project, an initiative that launches with a $200 million commitment, making it one of if not the largest single philanthropic initiative dedicated “exclusively to the recovery of critically endangered species across taxonomic groups, a diversity of habitats and countries,” per the initiative. Half of the commitment comes from the Bezos Earth Fund and the other $100 million from Re:wild (co-founded by DiCaprio and Dr. Wes Sechrest) with support from DiCaprio himself, Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation.
The project will provide support to help recover 100 species facing imminent extinction. To accomplish that, they will work with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, scientists and conservationists by moving beyond short-term grants to sustained investment over multiple years, a strategy experts believe is key to keeping species alive. The project said it will track population recovery and threat reduction and report updates on its website and social media platforms.
About those species, the project has zeroed in on some 100 that span mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, invertebrates and plants from 30 countries that live across a range of habitats. They will be working with more than 100 local and international partners around the world to help lead the recovery efforts, which are said to be tailored for each environment. It is being done in collaboration with the IUCN Species Survival Commission.
(Yahoo news)
