The actor Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged $15m (£10m) in donations to a host of environmental causes.

 

The actor’s foundation announced on Tuesday that it has awarded grants to groups including Amazon Watch, Save the Elephants, Tree People and the WorldWildlife Fund.

 

“The destruction of our planet continues at a pace we can no longer afford to ignore,” DiCaprio said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to innovate a future where the habitability of our planet does not come at the expense of those who inhabit it.”

 

The groups receiving the grants are “working to solve humankind’s greatest challenge,” he said.

 

The 40-year-old actor has been an active environmentalist throughout his career. He created the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to fund efforts that protect the planet and its endangered species. It now supports such projects in more than 40 countries, including measures to prevent illegal fishing off the coast of Costa Rica.

 

Last year, the United Nations named DiCaprio a UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change. Speaking at the UN in September about climate change he said: “This disaster has grown beyond the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments.”

 

 

PHOTO: Leonardo DiCaprio walks down 6th Avenue during the People’s Climate March on 21 September 2014 in New York.

CREDIT: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.