Amazon fires: Leonardo DiCaprio's Earth alliance fund to donate USD 5 million

LOS ANGELES: Leonardo DiCaprio's new environmental organisation Earth Alliance, has pledged USD five million to help preserve the Amazon rainforest amid raging fires.

The Hollywood star has created the organisation with friends, Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth.

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#Regram #RG @earthalliance #EarthAlliance, launched in July by @LeonardoDiCaprio, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Brian Sheth, has formed an emergency Amazon Forest Fund with a commitment of $5 million dollars to focus critical resources for indigenous communities and other local partners working to protect the life-sustaining biodiversity of the Amazon against the surge of fires currently burning across the region. Join Us. 100 percent 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. To learn more or to donate, please visit ealliance.org/amazonfund (see link in bio) Photos: @chamiltonjames, @danielbeltraphoto 2017

A post shared by Leonardo DiCaprio (@leonardodicaprio) on Aug 25, 2019 at 6:51am PDT

According to Earth Alliance's website, the funds will be donated 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 rainforest is on fire, with more than 9,000 wildfires scorching delicate, irreplaceable landscapes across Brazil this week -- year to date, more than 72,000 fires have been reported by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

"This is a significant increase from the 40,000 fires in Brazil at this point last year," the post on the program's website read.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) merged with Earth Alliance last month to "help address the urgent threats to our planet's life support systems."