The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has awarded Oceana a $3 million grant aimed at protecting threatened ocean habitat and marine species, and has donated an additional $7 million to ocean conservation projects over the next two years.
Announcing the $7 million donation at the US Department of State ‘Our Oceans’ conference, Leonardo DiCaprio said that action is needed and that we need to step up to protect the world’s oceans.
“We are launching an ambitious mission to protect the world’s oceans, but we have a long, long road ahead of us. We must push ourselves to step up at every chance we get”, said Mr DiCaprio.
The Foundation’s grant to Oceana will also support the organisation’s work to advocate for responsible fishing measures, including the effort to ban California drift gillnets.
“Protecting our planet’s oceans and the marine species that call it home is one of the most pressing sustainability crises facing humanity today and a moral imperative that we must acknowledge,” Mr DiCaprio said. “It’s my hope that this grant will help Oceana continue the tremendous work that they do daily on behalf of our oceans.”
Spread over a three-year period, the $3m grant is the first marine conservation grant made following the foundation’s 11th Hour Charity Auction hosted at Christie’s last year. The grant to Oceana will support the organisation’s work, from the south of Chile to the north of Alaska, to preserve ecologically important ocean areas and Oceana’s campaigns, including the campaign to ban drift gillnets off California, in order to protect dolphins, whales, turtles and other marine animals from being caught and killed as bycatch.
