Breaking! Leonardo DiCaprio & Earth Alliance Launch Amazon Forest Fund Raising An Initial $5 Million Dollars; More Donations Are Needed

More than 9,000 devastating wildfires continue to burn through the vital and irreplaceable landscapes of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, predominaently due to an unprecedented surge in deforestation.

There is an urgent need for help to save the Amazon. Today, Leonardo DiCaprio shared the news on Instagram that his newest charitable organization, Earth Alliance, has formed an emergency Amazon Forest Fund.

Together with DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance co-chairs Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, the organization also revealed an initial commitment of $5 million dollars to the fund to focus critical resources on the key protections needed to maintain the ‘lungs of the planet.’

As per Earth Alliance, these “funds will be distributed directly to local partners and the indigenous communities protecting the Amazon, the incredible diversity of wildlife that lives there, and the health of the planet overall.”

The immediate beneficiaries include: 

• Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida (Kayapo) 

• Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) 

• Instituto Kabu (Kayapo) 

• Instituto Raoni (Kayapo)

• Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) 

The organization further explains on its website that, “the destruction of the Amazon rainforest is rapidly releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, destroying an ecosystem that absorbs millions of tons of carbon emissions every year and is one of the planet’s best defenses against the climate crisis.”

Year to date, as per Earth Alliance, more than 72,000 fires have been reported by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). This is a significant increase from the 40,000 fires in Brazil at this point last year.

Your help is needed now! Preventing these devastating fires requires protecting our forests, so help Earth Alliance fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by donating to the Amazon Forest Fund, HERE!

You can help all animals and the rainforest by choosing compassion on your plate. #GoVeg