Leonardo DiCaprio has joined with other philanthropists in pledging $5 million through their environmental foundation to aid the Amazon as massive wildfires continue to burn across the region, Fox News reports.
The 44-year-old actor announced Sunday that Earth Alliance, an organization he formed last month with Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, has formed an emergency Amazon Forest Fund.
In addition to its $5 million pledge, the alliance also was seeking donations to help repair the Brazilian rainforest, which activists have called the “lungs of the planet.”
DiCaprio said the fund will “focus critical resources” for indigenous and local communities working to protect the Amazon against the surge of wildfires.
The funds would be distributed to five local groups working to combat the problem: Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida, Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Instituto Kabu, Instituto Raoni and Instituto Socioambiental.
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