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Leonardo DiCaprio has partnered with other philanthropists to pledge $ 5 million through their environmental foundation to help the Amazon as massive fires continue to burn in the region.
The 44-year-old actor announced Sunday that Earth Alliance, an organization he had formed last month with Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth, had formed an emergency fund for the Amazon rainforest.
In addition to its $ 5 million contribution, the alliance was also seeking donations to help repair the Brazilian rainforest, which activists have called "the lungs of the planet."
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DiCaprio said the fund would "target essential resources" for indigenous and local communities working to protect the Amazon from rising forest fires.
The funds would be distributed to five local groups fighting the problem: Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida, Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Instituto Kabu, Instituto Raoni and Instituto Socioambiental.
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Nearly 40,000 fires have been cremating the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, the latest in a season of excessive fire activity that has charred 1,330 km2 of rainforest this year. Brazilian federal experts reported a record number of forest fires across the country this year, up 84 percent from the same period in 2018.
Environmentalists have suggested that many of the Amazonian forest fires were initially lit by loggers and cattle ranchers using a clearing method to clear the land.
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The actor "Once upon a time in Hollywood" has been a strong advocate for the environment, using social media to warn of the consequences of climate change.
But last week, while sharing several images and posts on Instagram aimed to educate the public about fires, one of the many images that he shared was not that of the 2019 fires. It was an image that could be found on the website of the Carbon Brief organization dating from 2018.
David Aaro and Tyler McCarthy of Fox News contributed to this report.
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