A new environmental foundation backed by Leonardo DiCaprio is pledging $5 million in aid to the Amazon, which has been swept by wildfires.
Through Earth Alliance — which was created last month by DiCaprio and philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth — the Amazon Forest Fund will provide money to five local organizations working to protect the Amazon.
WATCH BELOW: Record-breaking wildfires scorch Brazil’s Amazon rainforests
The climate change organization is also seeking donations to help repair the Brazilian rainforest, called the “lungs of the planet.”
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“Yesterday, we launched the Amazon Forest Fund, the first initiative from the newly formed @EarthAlliance,” DiCaprio wrote on Instagram Monday. “The fund was set up to help local partners and the indigenous communities on the front lines protecting the Amazon.”
“Please follow @EarthAlliance to stay up to date with the action taking place and for further ways that you can help support,” the actor wrote.
The funds will be donated to Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida (Kayapo), Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), Instituto Kabu (Kayapo), Instituto Raoni (Kayapo) and Instituto Socioambiental (ISA).
In DiCaprio’s Amazon Forest Fund announcement, he wrote: “100 per cent of your donation will go to partners who are working on the ground to protect the Amazon.
Earth Alliance is committed to helping protect the natural world. We are deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in the Amazon, which highlights the delicate balance of climate, biodiversity, and the wellbeing of indigenous peoples.”
Brazilian federal experts reported a record number of wildfires across the country this year, up 84 per cent over the same period in 2018.
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According to the fund’s website, more than 72,000 fires have been reported by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
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Brazil’s satellite monitoring agency has recorded more than 41,000 fires in the Amazon region so far this year — with more than half of those coming this month alone.
Fires are common in Brazil in the annual dry season, but they are much more widespread this year.
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Experts say most of the fires are set by farmers or ranchers clearing existing farmland. But the same monitoring agency has reported a sharp increase in deforestation this year as well.
The Amazon fires have become a global issue, escalating tensions between Brazil and European countries who believe Bolsonaro has neglected commitments to protect biodiversity. Protesters gathered outside Brazilian diplomatic missions in European and Latin American cities Friday, and demonstrators also marched in Brazil.
— With files from the Associated Press