Leonardo DiCaprio Pledges $5 Million Toward the Amazon Fires

Earth Alliance, the new environmental initiative backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, has pledged $5 million to assist in preserving the fire-ravaged Amazon, following the devastating deforestation this year.

The actor, alongside Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, launched the Amazon Forest Fund on Sunday, announcing a $5 million commitment to focus critical resources on the key protections needed to maintain the “lungs of the planet.”

According to the foundation’s website, it will donate funds to five local organizations working to combat the fires: Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida, Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Instituto Kabu, Instituto Raoni and Instituto Socioambiental.

This year, the rainforest has experienced an unprecedented surge in devastating wildfires sweeping the region at the highest rate since records began in 2013. Brazil has reported 72,843 fires in the country, an 84 percent increase on the same period last year. In July, deforestation spiked to a level not seen in more than a decade.

According to The Guardian, many of the fires are believed to be man-made, deliberate and illegal, including attempts by land-grabbers to destroy trees and raise the value of the property they seize. The situation is believed to have worsened, at least in part, due to Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, who has weakened environmental agency and expressed support for miners, farmers and loggers since taking office.

Experts say the fires are the fires are extremely concerning as they are sending clouds of smoke across the region, pumping alarming quantities of carbon into the world’s atmosphere, and degrading the world’s biggest terrestrial carbon sink and most important home for biodiversity.

The Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation merged with Earth Alliance in July to “help address the urgent threats to our planet’s life support systems.” He has also been posting about the fires on his Instagram page this week, claiming the Amazon is “a critical piece of the global climate solution.”

“Without the Amazon, we cannot keep the Earth’s warming in check.”