DiCaprio and Bezos Earth Fund Launch $200M Effort to Recover 100 Critically Endangered Species

Leonardo DiCaprio and his conservation organization Re:wild have partnered with the Bezos Earth Fund to launch the Phoenix Species Project, a $200 million initiative targeting the recovery of 100 species on the brink of extinction. The commitment comprises $100 million from the Bezos Earth Fund and $100 million from Re:wild.

The project focuses on species across mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, plants, and invertebrates from 30 countries. Featured species include the golden-crowned sifaka lemur, the bowmouth guitarfish targeted by the fin trade, the honey-scented fuzzy belly button succulent harvested for ornamental trade, the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander endemic to a North Carolina canyon, the extinct-in-the-wild Charco Azul pupfish from Mexico, and the elusive night parrot of Australia.

Each species will receive sustained support for five years through designated implementing partners such as ReShark, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Amphibian & Reptile Conservancy, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, and Bush Heritage Australia. The model aims to free conservationists from short-term funding cycles that can disrupt long-term recovery work.

The initiative builds on the 2021 Protecting Our Planet Challenge, which aimed to protect 30% of critical land, freshwater, and marine areas. A 2021 peer-reviewed essay in Conservation Biology provided scientific backing, arguing that species reduced to tiny populations can recover with sufficient funding and committed local partners.

Barney Long, a senior director at Re:wild, emphasized that the fund is designed for full species recovery rather than merely halting decline. The Phoenix Species Project website publishes the full list of 100 species and their recovery plans.

Re:wild currently helps protect hundreds of threatened species across 360 locations worldwide. The new project represents an expansion of that work into a concentrated, time-bound recovery effort for the most critically endangered species.

The commitment marks one of the largest dedicated philanthropic investments specifically for species-level recovery rather than habitat protection alone. Organizers state that the tools to prevent extinction exist and the primary barrier is resource mobilization.