Leonardo DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance just pledged $5 million to save the Amazon

As the Amazon rainforest burns in Brazil— satellites have detected thousands of fire alerts over the last week —Leonardo DiCaprio’s new organization pledged $5 million to help local organizations run by indigenous communities protect what’s left. The new Amazon Forest Fund , launched by an organization called Earth Alliance that DiCaprio cofounded last month, aims “to focus critical resources for indigenous communities and other local partners working to protect the life-sustaining biodiversity of the Amazon against the fires currently burning across the region,” DiCaprio wrote in an Instagram post announcing the emergency fund. The fund, which is asking for public support, will give 100% of donations directly to organizations fighting fires and protecting indigenous lands. One group, for example, is the Instituto Associação Floresta Protegida , which represents 17 communities of the Mẽbêngôkre and Kayapó people located in the Brazilian state of Pará, where farmers declared a “fire day” earlier this month to burn forested areas to clear more land for agriculture. Farming—from producing soy and palm oil to cattle ranching to supply food companies around the world, including the U.S.—is one of the primary drivers of deforestation in the area. DiCaprio cofounded the Earth Alliance with billionaires Laurene […]

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