Leonardo DiCaprio joins mega effort to protect Amazon rainforest

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a key role in environmental conservation efforts, has now joined a project to protect the Amazon rainforest.

DiCaprio's Re:Wild Conservation organisation and US entrepreneur and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Nature Solutions, both non-profit organisations, are putting $200 million into the Protect Our Planet Challenge to “support the expansion and management of Brazil's protected areas and Indigenous territories."

Over the next four years, the $200 million donation will be utilized to help Brazil achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon and accelerate the South American country’s transition to a sustainable and green economy, Variety reported.

"We are inspired by Brazil’s ambitious goals for protecting the Amazon, one of the most important places for wildlife on the planet, and are thrilled to be able to support these efforts through the Protecting Our Planet Challenge," DiCaprio said in a statement.

In May 2021, the 'Titanic' star had announced a $43 million pledge towards sweeping conservation operations across the Galapagos Islands, with his social media accounts taken over by a wildlife veterinarian and island restoration specialist.

The initiative was announced in partnership with Re:wild, an organisation founded in 2021 by a group of renowned conservation scientists and DiCaprio.

Again, in September of 2021, DiCaprio was part of a massive $5 billion pledge to protect threatened species and wild lands.