Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Gives $750K Grant to SavingSpecies

Leonardo DiCaprio addressing the U.N. General Assembly about the reality of global warming. Photo courtesy of the UN.

We are thrilled to announce that the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) has awarded SavingSpecies a $750,000 grant! The generous grant supports SavingSpecies’ conservation projects to stop extinctions and restore nature. Now we’re able to restore even more forest habitats in more countries over the next three years. The grant enables us to expand the impact of our proven strategy of science- and technology-based conservation.

It’s a huge honor to be supported by one of the world’s great actors and most generous conservationists. Leonardo DiCaprio is an environmental and conservation champion in its truest sense:

• Appointed United Nations Messenger of Peace
• Supported environmental causes through his foundation since 1998
• Outspoken in his advocacy for clean air and water and to protect the world’s oceans, forests, and other fragile habitats
• Spoke truth to power—literally—at the 2014 United Nations General Assembly about the reality and dangers of climate change.

Save The Olinguito Project: Our conservation workers found this baby olinguito in one of SavingSpecies’ project sites. Photo by Juan Rendon. © SavingSpecies 2013.

Leonardo diCaprio

The namesake foundation that Leonardo founded in 1998 supports biodiversity and environmental protection projects around the world. The LDF has supported the fights against poaching in Africa and overfishing the oceans. It has funded replanting forests and species reintroductions. It’s no exaggeration to say that LDF is a leading supporter of environmental conservation. Its mission is working to “create a world where both nature and humanity coexist in harmony.”

This mission is truly the only way toward a sustainable future. We are so proud that the Foundation has recognized that SavingSpecies’ unique, innovative conservation strategy will play its part in helping the Foundation achieve this mission.

The LDF support means that SavingSpecies can act more quickly when excellent opportunities arise. That means fewer losses of biodiverse parcels of land to developers, timber companies, or other extractive activities. Through its grant, the LDF is recognizing the value of SavingSpecies’ exemplary work:

• Reconnect Brazil’s fragmented Atlantic Coastal Forest, rescuing the golden lion tamarin from the brink of extinction
• Restore degraded cloud forests in Colombia to protect rare endemic orchids and endangered hummingbirds
• Implement the first conservation project for the recently-discovered olinguito, a rare mammal carnivore
• Giving Earth essential CPR as we connect, protect and restore forests on Ecuador’s coast that are home to endangered monkeys, birds, and frogs.

Moreover, the size of the LDF’s grant will now allow us to expand into other countries as we build on these existing successes. We have a treasure trove of conservation opportunities for spectacular species of plants and animals. These projects are undergoing our peer review process as we speak so watch this space!

Of course, you can help too. Every voice counts toward raising awareness and every dollar goes to helping the world’s dwindling wildlife make a stand against extinction. Do your part today. Spread the word! Link to this blog post or our press release on Facebook and other social media, tweet, share by email to let your friends know that they can make a difference. Also, please take a moment to kindly thank Mr. DiCaprio and his foundation with a post on Facebook or Twitter.

Join Leonardo today in giving CPR to Earth. Donate to SavingSpecies to support science-based conservation in Earth’s most biodiverse areas facing the greatest risk of extinction.

You can help. You can make a difference. We can make that happen. But only with your support. Thank you!
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Colombian Hummingbirds and Orchids Project: The Dracula orchid is one of many rare and threatened species that the SavingSpecies project is protecting from extinction.

Golden Lion Tamarin Brazil Project: Golden Lion Tamarin triplets with their mother. Photo by Andréia F. Martins, AMLD

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