A bold new chapter in conservation history launched this week as Re:wild, the wildlife organization co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Bezos Earth Fund unveiled the Phoenix Species Project — a $200 million commitment to pull 100 of the world's most imperiled species back from the brink of extinction.
The initiative is unlike anything attempted before in scale and ambition. Rather than spreading thin, short-term grants across dozens of causes, the Phoenix Species Project will deliver five years of sustained, dedicated funding to each of the 100 target species — deliberately removing the start-stop cycle that has historically hampered recovery efforts.
"When we protect species, we also protect the forests, wetlands, grasslands, and oceans they depend on," said DiCaprio. "The Phoenix Species Project has the potential to make a lasting impact where it's needed most."
The $200 million comes in equal halves: $100 million from the Bezos Earth Fund and $100 million from Re:wild, which already supports the protection of hundreds of threatened species at 360 locations worldwide. Together, they represent a rare alignment of Hollywood star power, tech philanthropic capital, and deep conservation expertise.
The project's name is intentional. Like the mythical phoenix rising from ash, every species on the list has been chosen because science shows it can recover — if given the right resources and enough time. A 2021 paper in Conservation Biology demonstrated that even populations reduced to tiny numbers can rebound with sufficient, sustained investment and committed local partners.
The full Phoenix 100 list spans 30 countries across every continent and includes a remarkable variety of life. Among the highlighted species:
The bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) — a prehistoric-looking ray found in shallow coastal waters from South Africa to Japan and Australia, whose fins are among the most sought after in the fin trade. Conservation work will be led by ReShark.
The golden-crowned sifaka — a rare lemur from northeastern Madagascar with a distinctive golden headpiece, one of the most endangered primates on Earth.
The fuzzy belly button (Dorotheanthes bellidiformis) — a honey-scented, daisy-like desert succulent that's illegally harvested for the ornamental plant trade in South Africa, with the South African National Biodiversity Institute leading its recovery.
The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander — living only in a single canyon in North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains, part of the world's richest salamander habitat, supported by the Amphibian & Reptile Conservancy.
The Charco Azul pupfish — a small freshwater fish now extinct in the wild after the Mexican spring it called home dried up from drought and agricultural water extraction, now kept alive in captivity pending habitat restoration.
The night parrot of Australia — one of the world's most elusive birds, nocturnal and ground-dwelling in remote arid grasslands, supported by Bush Heritage Australia.
"This fund is focused squarely on species recovery — not merely stopping decline," explained Barney Long, a senior director at Re:wild. "Recovering species takes time, so the fund is designed to provide sustained, five-year support for each species, freeing conservationists from disruptive short-term funding cycles and equipping them to do what's actually required to bring species fully back."
The Phoenix Species Project builds on earlier collaboration between DiCaprio and the Bezos Earth Fund. In 2021, the two parties joined nine other conservation philanthropies to launch the Protecting Our Planet Challenge, pledging to protect at least 30% of Earth's most important land, freshwater, and marine areas by 2030.
This week's announcement goes further — not just protecting habitat, but actively engineering species recovery. The full Phoenix 100 list is published on the project's new website, phoenixspeciesproject.org, and reflects years of quiet planning by conservation scientists.
"We have the tools we need to prevent these species from going extinct," said the Phoenix Species Project's senior manager in the launch statement. "We just need to mobilize the resources."
With $200 million now mobilized, the real work begins.
