Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Re:wild and Jeff Bezos‘ Bezos Earth Fund have launched this week the Phoenix Species Project, a new philanthropic initiative dedicated exclusively to helping protect and resurrect critically endangered species around the world.
The project’s launch coincides with a $200 million commitment shared by DiCaprio’s Re:wild, Bezos’ Earth Find, Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation. It is the single largest philanthropic initiative dedicated to the recovery of critically endangered species. The $200 million commitment will help those fighting to stop animal and plant life extinction by allowing them to move beyond short-term grant funding and focus on the kind of ambitious, sustained work that is needed to save endangered species.
Working in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, scientists and conservationists, the project promises to provide new support to 100 species that are facing imminent extinction, including certain mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, birds and plants.
“For decades, scientists, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and conservation leaders have been on the front lines of protecting nature, and what has been made clear through research, is that species on the brink of extinction are often the ones that anchor some of the world’s most important ecosystems,” DiCaprio, founder of Re:wild, said in a statement. “When we protect those species, we also protect the forests, wetlands, grasslands and oceans they depend on.”
“The Phoenix Species Project has the potential to drastically shift how we approach conservation and combat the climate crisis at a global scale,” DiCaprio continued. “By creating the largest philanthropic initiative in history dedicated to the recovery of critically endangered species across continents, made possible by a transformative gift from the Bezos Earth Fund, we have an opportunity to make a lasting impact where it’s needed most. The goal is for the Phoenix Species Project to become a global movement that inspires others to invest in nature and help protect our planet.”
$100 million of the Phoenix Project’s initial funding comes directly from the Bezos Earth Fund. The other $100 million has been provided by Re:wild, with support from DiCaprio, Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation.
“Kids fall in love with animals before anyone tells them those animals are disappearing. Ask any seven-year-old about their favorite creature. It’s something wild. Something most adults have never heard of. What do we tell them when the night parrot or the golden-crowned sifaka isn’t there anymore to fall in love with? This project is our answer,” Lauren Sánchez Bezos, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, said in her own statement. “One hundred species, thirty countries and a real commitment to bringing them back. Not managing their decline. Recovering them. That’s the whole difference. We know how to do this. We just have to stay committed long enough to see it through.”
Among the endangered species targeted by the fund are the ancient bowmouth guitarfish, the tree-dwelling Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander and the freshwater Charco Azul pupfish. You can find the full list of endangered species highlighted by the Phoenix Species Project on the initiative’s new website.
