Leonardo DiCaprio’s newly minted organisation, Earth Alliance, has pledged $5 million toward preserving the Amazon rain forest, which has been experiencing devastating wildfires. The fundraising launch, called the Amazon Forest Fund, will aim to protect sensitive habitats within the Amazon by donating to five local organisations: 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).
The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, covering eight countries and supplying 20 per cent of the earth’s oxygen. It is often referred to as “the lungs of the planet” because of how much oxygen it produces.
DiCaprio has taken to Instagram several times in the past week to raise awareness toward the fires. “The largest rainforest in the world is a critical piece of the global climate solution,” he wrote in one caption. “Without the Amazon, we cannot keep the Earth’s warming in check.”
RELATED: The Amazon Rainforest Is Burning, And You Can See The Damage From Space
Here’s How You Can Help
You don’t have to be a firefighter or even a diehard climate change activist like Leonardi DiCaprio to help the Amazon. There are plenty of options, so check them out below:
- Head to Amazon Watch, which supports and protects indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin and helps preserve the ecosystem.
- Fast Company reports that reducing your beef consumption can also help because rainforest beef reportedly goes into fast-food hamburgers and processed beef products.
- Protect an acre of rainforest through the Rainforest Action Network.
- Focus on the animals of the rainforest specifically by donating or volunteering with the WWF.
- Sign a petition to encourage governmental action, if that’s your thing. Here’s a Greenpeace one.
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