Wildlife conservation often depends on projects that begin with strong local knowledge but struggle to secure funding beyond a few years. Around the world, many endangered animals survive because of small organisations working with limited staff, modest budgets and long-term commitment rather than high-profile attention. While those efforts have prevented extinctions in some places, they have rarely been supported on a scale that allows recovery programmes to expand. A newly announced international initiative is attempting to change that approach by directing significant financial backing towards species already facing an uncertain future, to support conservation over many years rather than through short-lived campaigns.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos launch $200 million Phoenix Species Project
As reported by AP News, a new conservation programme known as the Phoenix Species Project has been launched with a commitment of 200 million US dollars to support the recovery of 100 of the world’s most threatened species.The initiative is being led by Re:wild, the conservation organisation co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, together with the Bezos Earth Fund, chaired by Jeff Bezos. According to the organisations behind the programme, the funding represents the largest single financial commitment dedicated entirely to helping critically endangered species recover.Rather than spreading resources across broad environmental programmes, the project is centred on animals whose populations have already fallen to extremely low numbers and require targeted conservation if they are to survive.
A five-year collaboration shaped the Phoenix Species Project
The announcement follows years of planning rather than a newly formed partnership.Reportedly, discussions began in 2021 when DiCaprio and Re:wild chief executive Wes Sechrest met with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos to consider how philanthropic funding could play a larger role in preventing species loss. Those early conversations gradually widened to include conservation organisations, Indigenous communities and government representatives from different countries.Instead of creating a single conservation model, the partners focused on understanding the different pressures affecting wildlife in individual regions. Habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species and illegal wildlife trade all present different challenges depending on where a species lives.That process eventually shaped the Phoenix Species Project, which has been designed to support conservation work already taking place on the ground while helping successful programmes continue beyond the limits of short-term grants.
From Madagascar to the Galápagos: 100 species at the heart of the $200 million rescue mission
The list of animals receiving attention reflects the global nature of the project.Among them is the golden-crowned sifaka, a lemur found only in Madagascar, where forest loss continues to reduce suitable habitat. North America is represented by the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, a rare lungless amphibian restricted to a small area of North Carolina.Several island species have also been selected. These include the Visayan warty pig from the Philippines, Mexico’s Cozumel harvest mouse, and the pink land iguana, which survives only around Wolf Volcano in the Galápagos Islands.Elsewhere, the programme includes the Malayan pangolin, one of the world’s most heavily trafficked mammals, Tanzania’s pancake tortoise with its unusually flattened shell, Colombia’s starry night harlequin toad, and Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna from New Guinea, an egg-laying mammal named in honour of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.The range of species illustrates that extinction risks are not limited to one group of animals. Mammals, reptiles, amphibians and other wildlife all face different pressures depending on their ecosystems.
Building on conservation already underway
The project is intended to strengthen existing conservation work rather than replace it. Many local organisations have spent years protecting endangered wildlife with limited financial support, relying on small grants that often expire before long-term recovery goals can be achieved. By providing larger and longer-lasting funding, the organisers hope conservation teams will be able to expand habitat protection, improve scientific monitoring and continue breeding or recovery programmes without repeated interruptions.Technical assistance will also accompany financial support, allowing conservation groups to share expertise and coordinate efforts across different countries where similar challenges exist.
Local conservation groups receive a major funding boost
For conservation groups already working with threatened wildlife, the new funding offers an opportunity to increase the scale of projects that have often operated under tight financial constraints.Association Fanamby in Madagascar, which has worked to protect the golden-crowned sifaka for years, is among the organisations expected to receive support through the initiative.In a statement, Tiana Andriamanana, executive director of Association Fanamby, one of the initiative’s grant recipients, said, “We’ve protected the golden-crowned sifaka for years on a budget that would never match what this species deserves, but letting it go extinct was never an option”.“This funding, this global platform and technical support change what is possible.”
