Leonardo DiCaprio has donated £4.1million towards helping the Amazon rainforest, which has been devastated by recent fires. The Hollywood star announced that he had formed the new environmental foundation, Earth Alliance, in an Instagram post, writing: "Yesterday, we launched the Amazon Forest Fund, the first initiative from the newly formed @EarthAlliance. The fund was set up to help local partners and the indigenous communities on the front lines protecting the Amazon. Please follow @EarthAlliance to stay up to date with the action taking place and for further ways that you can support. You can get involved and donate right now at ealliance.org/amazonfund (#linkinbio)."
Earth Alliance confirmed the star's donation on its own Instagram, with a post saying: "@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."
Leonardo shared the important cause with his followers
According to The National Institute for Space Research in Brazil, there have been more than 72,000 fires in the Amazon rainforest this year, and those figures are up from 40,000 at the same point last year.
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Such shocking statistics call for immediate action, and it's easy to follow in Leonardo's footsteps and donate some money to such an important cause. The Oscar-winning actor has provided easy-to-follow donation instructions on his Instagram, and all of his posts on the matter include links that lead straight to donation pages.
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe actor is known for his environmentalism
Earth Alliance also provides information on the disastrous fires and their cause. The website states: "The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is rapidly releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, destroying an ecosystem that absorbs millions of tonnes of carbon emissions every year and is one of the planet's best defences against the climate crisis."
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Where do your donations go? Earth Alliance adds that 100% of donations will go directly to protecting the Amazon, and will be distributed evenly between local partners and the indigenous communities protecting the Amazon, in a bid to preserve the incredible diversity of life that lives there and the health of the planet overall. We'll be donating all we can!
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