Bezos Earth Fund, Re:wild launch $257m drive to save species from extinction

LONDON – The Bezos Earth Fund, established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, and Re:wild, co-founded by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, pledged on Aug 4 an initial US$200 million (S$257 million) to support the recovery of critically endangered species.

The Phoenix Species Project aims to help preserve 100 species across 30 countries through long-term funding and locally led conservation efforts involving indigenous peoples, local communities, scientists and governments.

Recovery measures include conservation breeding, habitat restoration, disease management and control of invasive species, with scientific support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission.

According to the IUCN, more than 49,000 species, or around 28 per cent of those it has assessed, are threatened with extinction.

The species targeted by the Phoenix project include the golden-crowned sifaka lemur from Madagascar and the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander from North Carolina.

The project is also backed by the non-profit Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation.

“One hundred species, thirty countries and a real commitment to bringing them back. Not managing their decline. Recovering them,” said Lauren Sanchez Bezos, vice-chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. “We know how to do this. We just have to stay committed long enough to see it through.”

The US$10 billion Bezos Earth Fund says that, since its launch in 2020, it has made 41 grants totalling US$591 million on projects restoring and conserving nature. Those projects include marine conservation and restoring degraded land in the United States. REUTERS