Entertainment
Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with conservation groups to pledge $43million to restore Galapagos Islands
Leonardo DiCaprio has partnered with Re:wild, a conservation group, to pledge $43million (£30.4million) to restore the Galapagos Islands.
The actor, 46, is a founding board member of Re:Wild, an organisation founded this year by renowned conservation scientists, the Galapagos National Park Directorate and more.
He announced the pledge on his social media accounts, to fund Galapagos projects including efforts to restore Floreana Island which houses 54 threatened species as well as reintroducing 13 locally extinct species, including the Floreana mockingbird, which was the first mockingbird described by Charles Darwin.
The endeavour will also include a captive breeding programme and other measures to prevent the extinction of the pink iguana as well as work to protect the Galapagos’s marine resources from the impact of ecotourism.
Leonardo said of the campaign: ‘When I travelled to the Galapagos Islands, I met with Paula Castaño and other environmental heroes in Ecuador working day in and day out to save one of the most irreplaceable places on the planet.
‘Around the world, the wild is declining. We have degraded three-quarters of the wild places and pushed more than one million species to the brink of extinction. More than half of Earth’s remaining wild areas could disappear in the next few decades if we don’t decisively act.
‘The environmental heroes that the planet needs are already here. Now we all must rise to the challenge and join them.’
He added: ‘This is why today, I am honoured to support the launch of @Rewild – to protect what’s still wild and help restore the rest.’
The Galapagos have had successful rewilding attempts in the past, including the removal of invasive rodents from the island of Pinzon in 2012 to benefit the giant tortoise, leading to new hatchlings in 2014.
Leo has long been an environmentalist, providing over $100million (£70.5million) to environmental projects over the years.
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