200 million dollars. That simple, that enormous.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos, along with Lauren Sánchez Bezos, announced the Phoenix Species Project, the largest private philanthropic fund dedicated exclusively to rescuing species on the brink of extinction.
There are 100 animals and plants in 30 countries, from lemurs and pangolins to the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, a creature you have probably never heard of. 🦎
The Bezos Earth Fund contributed 100 million dollars, and Re:wild, the organization DiCaprio co-founded in 2021, matched that amount along with other allies.
It all began at a meeting in 2021, when DiCaprio and biologist Wes Sechrest presented the idea to the Bezoses. Five years later, that conversation became the most ambitious biodiversity rescue ever funded by private money. 🌍