• The Phoenix Species Project will invest $200 million to recover 100 critically endangered species across 30 countries.
• The initiative is the largest philanthropic effort dedicated exclusively to species recovery across multiple taxonomic groups.
• Funding will support multi-year, locally led conservation programs aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework.

A new $200 million conservation initiative will target 100 of the world’s most threatened species, from desert succulents in South Africa to elusive parrots in Australia.

The Phoenix Species Project is led by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund. It will support recovery programs across 30 countries and a wide range of ecosystems.

The project brings together more than 100 local and international partners. Indigenous Peoples, local communities, scientists, conservationists and governments will lead implementation in each region.

The initiative aims to move endangered-species funding beyond small, short-term grants. Instead, it will provide sustained capital for species facing imminent extinction and requiring intensive intervention.

$200 Million Committed to Long-Term Recovery

The Bezos Earth Fund is providing $100 million at launch. Re:wild is committing a further $100 million, with support from Leonardo DiCaprio, Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation.

The funding will run over several years, giving wildlife populations time to recover. The project will monitor population growth, threat reduction and other conservation outcomes.

Recovery methods may include breeding programs, translocations, disease management, habitat restoration and the control of invasive species. Some projects will also use head-starting programs, which raise vulnerable young animals before releasing them into the wild.

The IUCN Species Survival Commission will serve as the project’s global knowledge partner. Its involvement is intended to provide scientific oversight across the portfolio.

“For decades, scientists, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and conservation leaders have been on the front lines of protecting nature, and what has been made clear through research, is that species on the brink of extinction are often the ones that anchor some of the world’s most important ecosystems,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, founder of Re:wild. “When we protect those species, we also protect the forests, wetlands, grasslands, and oceans they depend on. The Phoenix Species Project has the potential to drastically shift how we approach conservation and combat the climate crisis at a global scale. By creating the largest philanthropic initiative in history dedicated to the recovery of critically endangered species across continents, made possible by a transformative gift from the Bezos Earth Fund, we have an opportunity to make a lasting impact where it’s needed most. The goal is for the Phoenix Species Project to become a global movement that inspires others to invest in nature and help protect our planet.”

Local Partners Will Lead Species Recovery

The first portfolio includes mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates and plants. Species were selected from habitats ranging from tropical forests and volcanic plains to freshwater lakes and oceans.

One recipient is Association Fanamby, which protects Madagascar’s golden-crowned sifaka and its forest habitat.

“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,” said Tiana Andriamanana, executive director of Association Fanamby, which is receiving a Phoenix Species Project grant. “This funding, this global platform and technical support change what is possible. We are no longer only holding the line against extinction; we can begin to bring the gold of Madagascar’s northern forests back. In doing so, we protect the landscapes that give Malagasy people drinking water, we open real ecotourism opportunities for local communities, and we prove that conservation succeeds only when everyone has a role in it. People and wildlife always thrived together; we only became disconnected, and now it is a homecoming.”

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Other species include the bowmouth guitarfish, found from South Africa to Japan and Australia. Its fins are highly valued in the global fin trade.

The project will also support the fuzzy belly button, a small South African succulent threatened by illegal harvesting. Another target is Mexico’s Charco Azul pupfish, now extinct in the wild after drought and agricultural water extraction destroyed its natural spring.

The portfolio also includes Australia’s night parrot and the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander in the United States.

Biodiversity Finance Meets Global Policy

The project is designed to support Target 4 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. That target calls on governments to halt human-induced extinctions and improve the conservation status of threatened species.

The Phoenix Species Project will work with the Reverse the Red Action Partnership. Together, they will help governments identify priority species and activate recovery plans.

“Kids fall in love with animals before anyone tells them those animals are disappearing. Ask any seven-year-old about their favorite creature. It’s something wild. Something most adults have never heard of. What do we tell them when the night parrot or the golden-crowned sifaka isn’t there anymore to fall in love with? This project is our answer,” said Lauren Sánchez Bezos, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. “One hundred species, thirty countries, and a real commitment to bringing them back. Not managing their decline. Recovering them. That’s the whole difference. We know how to do this. We just have to stay committed long enough to see it through.”

For investors and corporate leaders, the project highlights a growing shift in biodiversity finance. Capital is moving from broad conservation pledges toward measurable species-level outcomes.

Its success will depend on transparent reporting, sustained funding and local governance. It could also offer governments a model for combining philanthropic capital with national biodiversity plans.

As nature-related risk rises on corporate and investor agendas, species recovery is becoming part of a wider economic debate. The Phoenix Species Project places that challenge within a global framework, linking conservation finance, community livelihoods and ecosystem resilience.