Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation donates $1 million to the Seychelles for marine conservation
From Global Citizen, by Joe McCarthy on March 23, 2016
Winning an Oscar was a nice achievement for Leo, but his biggest long-term goal (I think) has been to help humanity avoid climate change.
He’s become one of the most visible global advocates for environmental sustainability and conservation and his efforts have only increased over the years. When he finally won an Oscar last month, he used his speech to call for global climate action.
Just the other day, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation gave a $1 million grant to the archipelago nation Seychelles for marine conservation. Just since 2010, his foundation has distributed more than $30 million USD in grants to more than 65 organizations in more than 40 countries. This latest grant is part of an innovative debt focused scheme involving numerous parties. If effective, it could be a blueprint for how to address environmental problems in the future.
Seychelles’ territory is 99% ocean. If that sounds weird, that’s because it’s unusual but technically legitimate. A country’s nautical rights extend 200 miles from its coastlines and a scattered archipelago like Seychelles has a lot of coastlines and not much land–hence the huge imbalance.
Because of all this ocean, its economy is highly dependent on marine activities such as ocean-based tourism and fishing. These sectors don’t generate enough revenue for the country to service the national debt, which largely comes from international lenders for development projects.