Armenia and Colombia have led an international initiative aimed at restoring populations of endangered animals and plants. American actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio wrote about this on Instagram, referring to the decisions announced at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

According to DiCaprio, 17 countries have already joined the Coalition of Action to Recover Endangered Species (CARES), which have pledged to intensify efforts to prevent the extinction of species and restore their populations.

“Preventing extinction isn’t enough. We need to bring threatened species back from the brink and recover them,” the actor stated and added that the announcements at COP17 demonstrate the growing international support for this goal,.

Also, DiCaprio announced the launch of the Species Recovery Alliance. Nine philanthropic foundations and organizations, including his environmental organization Re, have joined forces and pledged more than $500 million over five years to help save endangered species. The funding will go toward restoring species that are both critically endangered and those that are only found in captivity.

The actor said that both initiatives share a common goal: to help the most vulnerable species recover. This requires long-term funding, coordinated environmental measures, and a strong commitment from participants.

In addition, DiCaprio congratulated all the governments and organizations that have become founders of these initiatives.