Leo DiCaprio teams with Jeff and Lauren Sanchez Bezos on $200 million plan to save 100 endangered species

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos have united to create the Phoenix Species Project, a $200 million initiative dedicated to saving 100 of Earth's most endangered species. The partnership between DiCaprio's Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund aims to be the largest single fund in history, exclusively focused on reviving critically endangered species.

The project was born out of conversations between DiCaprio, Re:wild co-founder Wes Sechrest, Bezos, and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who serve as chair and vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, respectively. The project seeks to protect a range of species, including the golden-crowned sifaka, a lemur from Madagascar; the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, a tree-dwelling salamander found only in North Carolina; the Visayan warty pig, endemic to the Philippines; and the starry night harlequin toad, found only in the mountains of Colombia.

The initiative aims to provide long-term support to smaller, successful conservation efforts, offering grants and technical assistance to local governments, environmental groups, and Indigenous communities working to protect these vulnerable species.