DiCaprio, conservationists launch $43M effort to restore Galapagos Islands

A coalition of groups, including a newly formed organization backed by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, have mobilized $43 million for efforts to restore degraded habitats in the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago renowned for its endemic species and central role in scientists’ understanding of ecology and evolution.

The Galapagos initiative has three immediate priorities: helping restore Floreana Island, one of the islands most degraded by human activities in the Galapagos; increasing the population size of the critically endangered pink iguana on Isabela Island; and strengthening protection of the archipelago’s marine reserves, which are critical to the local economy yet have been besieged by foreign fishing fleets in recent years. The initiative involves more than 40 partners, ranging from local NGOs to governments to international organizations, leveraging decades of collective experience working across the archipelago.

The group leading this effort is Re:wild, an organization that was just formed between Global Wildlife Conservation and Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a founding board member of the new entity. The Galapagos initiative is Re:wild’s first project under its new brand, but the group plans to scale up its existing global work, putting renewed emphasis on the concept of rewilding, or restoring species and ecosystems to previous levels of abundance and health.

To mark the start of the new initiative, DiCaprio is turning control of his social media accounts over Paula A. Castaño, a veterinarian and biologist with Island Conservation who lives in the Galápagos Islands, for the day.

“When I travelled to the Galapagos Islands, I met with Paula Castaño and other environmental heroes in Ecuador working day in and day out to save one of the most irreplaceable places on the planet. I’m excited to share her team’s work and to support the longstanding effort to protect and restore these iconic islands, alongside the team at Re:wild,” said Leonardo DiCaprio. “Around the world, the wild is declining. We have degraded three quarters of the wild places and pushed more than one million species to the brink of extinction. More than half of Earth’s remaining wild areas could disappear in the next few decades if we don’t decisively act. Fortunately, conservation leaders like Paula are showing us that it is not too late to reverse this alarming trend.

Rakan Zahawi, CEO of the Charles Darwin Foundation, said: "This initiative is a real game changer for Galapagos. Along with our conservation partners, we have been working on rewilding initiatives for decades - but to now have a major fund dedicated to such efforts expands both the scope and reach of what we can do to preserve this iconic place".