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We’re very to excited to announce that Mongabay has received a grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
The $150,000 grant, announced yesterday, will enable us to strengthen our core operations, reach more readers, and expand key reporting initiatives, including our environmentalists under threat and conservation effectiveness reporting projects.
“It’s a huge honor to receive a grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which is committing millions to protecting biodiversity, wildlands, oceans, and the rights of indigenous people,” said Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler. “I see this as recognition of the work the Mongabay team is doing in bringing critical environmental issues to the attention of the public, civil society, and policymakers.”
“We’re very grateful to the DiCaprio Foundation for its support.”
Baby elephant in South Africa. The Dicaprio Foundation has put millions into protecting elephants in Africa and Asia. Photo by Rhett Butler.
The grant was given under the foundation’s Innovative Solutions Portfolio. Yesterday the foundation announced a total of $15.6 million in grants across its program areas. Direct financial support from the foundation now amounts to $59 million since 1998.
“Today we are greatly increasing our level of vital grantmaking and strategic partnerships to help solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, Founder and Chairman of LDF, in a statement.
Rainforest in Borneo. Photo by Rhett Butler
The grant comes as Mongabay is rapidly scaling up its operations, including the recent launch of a Spanish-language news service run by a team in Latin America.
“This grant will give us more flexibility to dive into key but lesser-known conservation issues that may otherwise go unreported,” said Dave Martin, Mongabay’s development officer. “This is also a huge win for the environmental community – hundreds of thousands of people and organizations depend on our news and analysis to inform their work.”