Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos have teamed up to launch the Phoenix Species Project, a new $200 million initiative focused on the recovery of Earth’s most threatened wildlife. This project marks the largest single fund in history dedicated to protecting species facing extinction from habitat loss and climate change.
The effort stems from years of coordination between Re:wild, co-founded by DiCaprio, and the Bezos Earth Fund. Leadership from both organizations conducted extensive meetings with environmental groups, local governments, and Indigenous communities to identify where resources are most needed to prevent irreversible decline.
The project targets 100 species globally. Initial examples include the golden-crowned sifaka in Madagascar, the Visayan warty pig in the Philippines, the pink land iguana in the Galápagos Islands, and the Malayan pangolin. Funding is intended to provide long-term support for smaller, established conservation groups that have operated with limited budgets but high impact.
By pooling resources, the partners aim to provide technical support and the financial scale necessary to move beyond immediate crisis management. This ensures that vulnerable species have a path toward stable population growth in their native environments.