Leonardo DiCaprio is a passionate and committed environmentalist and has yet again put his influence and money into helping with a major project that hopes to revive and ‘rewild’ the ecosystem in the Galapagos Islands. What the initiative hopes to achieve is through a symbiotic partnership which is part of the whole philosophy of these groups in that humans need to work with nature and not against it. The partnership includes the LDF, the conservation group Re:wild, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation and local communities with the ambitious plan to rewild the entire Galápagos Islands, as well as all of Latin America’s Pacific archipelagos.
The actor established his foundation in 1998 with the mission of protecting the world’s last wild places. LDF implements solutions that help restore balance to threatened ecosystems, ensuring the long-term health and well-being of all Earth’s inhabitants. Since that time the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) has worked on some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who serves as a Re:wild founding board member, announced the Galápagos initiative and funding commitments by turning over his social media accounts for the day to Paula A. Castaño, a wildlife veterinarian and island restoration specialist with Island Conservation who lives in the Galápagos Islands and works across Latin America. Castaño is leading the efforts to reintroduce a number of endangered species back to their wild homes, in collaboration with the Galápagos National Park, local communities and other partners. Amplification of Castaño’s voice on social media is a preview of how Re:wild will bring international attention and resources to scale the work of environmental heroes.
“Time is running out for so many species, especially on islands where their small populations are vulnerable and threatened. Galápagos’s pink iguanas, Floreana mockingbirds and other wildlife may soon be lost forever without action. We know how to prevent these extinctions and restore functional and thriving ecosystems–we have done it–but we need to replicate these successes, innovate and go to scale,” Castaño said. “We need catalytic investments like the one announced today to replicate our successes in the Galápagos and elsewhere.”
The website is an incredible source of information and inspiration: https://www.leonardodicaprio.org as is that of one of the partners of this project: https://rewild.org.