Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos Help Launch $200M Fund to Protect the Amazon Rainforest

The Protecting Our Planet Challenge aims to safeguard the Indigenous people of the Amazon and preserve its wildlife.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos are teaming up to save the Amazon.

The Revenant actor, 48, and the Amazon founder, 59, will help the Protecting Our Planet (POP) Challenge to invest $200 million in the Brazilian government’s efforts to preserve the wildlife and the Indigenous people of the Amazon over the next four years.

“We are inspired by Brazil’s ambitious goals for protecting the Amazon, one of the most important places for wildlife on the planet, and are thrilled to be able to support these efforts through the Protecting Our Planet Challenge,” DiCaprio — who joined the challenge through Re:wild, the organization focused on rewilding that he co-founded in 2021 — said in a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

Bezos is involved through his Bezos Earth Fund, an initiative he and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez launched to help fight climate change.

“The Amazon is critical for the future of global biodiversity and climate, and we welcome the commitment from President Lula and the Government of Brazil to protect it,” Cristián Samper, managing director and leader of nature solutions of the Bezos Earth Fund, said in the release.

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Donates Another $15 Million for Conservation Efforts as His Fight Against Climate Change Continues

“We are pleased to support the designation and management of protected areas and Indigenous territories as a key part of the strategy to reduce deforestation, along with new economic models of development based on the conservation and sustainable use of the forest,” Samper continued.

The Protecting Our Planet Challenge aims to eliminate deforestation in the Amazon, permanently safeguard around 145 million acres of undesignated public lands and strengthen both the management of existing protected regions and the rights of the Indigenous guardians of the Brazilian Amazon.

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Amazonia — which spans Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname and French Guiana — is critical to peoples from more than 400 Indigenous groups and is home to millions of species. However, 17 percent of the Amazonian forest is gone already, with scientists fearing catastrophic consequences if the figure reaches 20-25 percent, according to the release.

Along with zero deforestation, this plan “will contribute to Brazil’s ambitious and critical goals of achieving zero deforestation in the Amazon and accelerating the country’s transition to a sustainable and green economy,” according to the release.

Related: Prince Harry and Leonardo DiCaprio Team Up to Fight 'Imminent Threat' to a Beloved Region of Africa

DiCaprio has previously lent his support to global environmental campaigns.

In October 2021, The Oscar winner and environmentalist, along with Forest Whitaker and Djimon Hounsou, joined Prince Harry, 38, and leading conservationists in calling for an immediate suspension on oil and gas drilling in Africa's Okavango River Basin, according to a press release from Re:wild.

At the time, DiCaprio shared an Instagram video asking fans to add their name to the open letter calling for an end to the drilling in the area.

"Re:wild stands with the people of the Okavango River Basin, who depend on the health of the watershed for their survival," the caption said. "ReconAfrica is poised to pollute their farms and destroy a beautiful landscape—one that benefits all life on Earth—forever. Join us by signing the open letter at the link in bio. Together, we can #SaveTheOkavango. For all wildkind."

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