The environmental group, Earth Alliance, co founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, made public over the weekend that he would donate £4m to aid fighting the wildfires currently destroying the Brazilian rainforest.
The goal of the funding will be to help “focus critical resources on the key protections needed to maintain the ‘lungs of the planet”, Earth Alliance explained in a detailed post encouraging members of the public to partake in the cause.
According to the group “These funds will be distributed directly to local partners and the indigenous communities protecting the Amazon”
It has been reported that approximately 80,000 fires took place across the country this year alone, with around 9,000 currently burning. Military planes have begun airdropping water on the affected areas.
Many of those fires are believed to be set by farmers and ranchers with approval of the anti-environmentalist president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has limited environmental protections.
Experts warn saying that, if the tackling of fires does not improve, serious consequences could take place in the long run, not just for the indigenous people who call the rainforest their home but for the whole planet.
Earth Alliance wrote “The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is rapidly releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, destroying an ecosystem that absorbs millions of tons of carbon emissions every year and is one of the planet’s best defenses against the climate crisis,”
