Since 2010, actor and philanthropist, Leonardo DiCaprio, has donated more than $30 million in grants to over 65 organizations in more than 40 countries.  His desire to impact and control climate change is notable, including his 2016 Oscar speech in which he called for global action to tackle the issue.

Now, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has given a $1 million grant to the archipelago nation Seychelles for marine conservation.

Seychelles is an island nation, called an archipelago, that’s territory is 99% water.  They rely almost solely on fishing and tourism as their sole source of income and the waters are one of the most important resources of the country (next to the land they live on).

https://youtu.be/ty0PubbMqAA

The country’s income, alone, is not enough to service the country’s debt.  This has brought outside investors to alleviate the situation, including many activist groups that can leverage the donations for calls to action from government.

DiCaprio’s foundation put together a $5 million, 5 year grant to develop of a marine sanctuary totaling 154,440 square miles of ocean around the country.  It brings the protected waters surrounding the country from 1% of them to 30% and will make Seychelles the 2nd largest marine sanctuary in the western hemisphere with the goal of becoming the largest in the world.

As Leo said in his Oscar speech, “Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”

*Article originally appeared at Minds.