Re:wild, a newly launched global environmental organization, has announced a $43 million commitment in support of efforts to protect and rewild the Galápagos Islands.

Working with the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation, local communities, and nearly forty nonprofit and government partners, Re:wild will work to remove barriers and reestablish vibrant wildlife populations and intact, functional, and resilient ecosystems. The funding will support efforts to restore Floreana Island, which is home to fifty-four threatened species, and reintroduce thirteen locally extinct species; implement a captive-breeding program and other activities to prevent the extinction of the pink iguana, which lives on an active volcano on Isabela Island that could wipe out the remaining population with a single eruption; and strengthen measures protecting the archipelago's marine resources to improve  ecotourism, a critical component of the Galápagueño and Ecuadorian economy.

The ten-year initiative also aims to restore the ecosystems of twenty-five islands and protect at least 30 percent of the region's waters; halt and reverse the decline of more than two hundred and fifty globally threatened species; double the area under effective protection and management; contribute to the development of resilient, sustainable economies for local people; and develop the capacity of regional restoration ecologists and protected area personnel.

"Time is running out for so many species, especially on islands where their small populations are vulnerable and threatened," said Paula A. Castaño, a wildlife veterinarian and island restoration specialist with Island Conservation who lives in the Galápagos. "[The archipelago's] pink iguanas, Floreana mockingbirds, and other wildlife may soon be lost forever without action. We know how to prevent these extinctions and restore functional and thriving ecosystems — we have done it — but we need to replicate these successes, innovate, and go to scale. We need catalytic investments like the one announced today to replicate our successes in the Galápagos and elsewhere."

"We have degraded three-quarters of the wild places and pushed more than one million species to the brink of extinction," said Re:wild founding board member Leonardo DiCaprio, who also serves on the boards of Earth Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, and International Fund for Animal Welfare. "More than half of Earth's remaining wild areas could disappear in the next few decades if we don't decisively act. Fortunately, conservation leaders like Paula are showing us that it is not too late to reverse this alarming trend. Re:wild offers a bold vision to amplify and scale the local solutions being led by Indigenous peoples and local communities, nongovernmental organizations, companies, and government agencies, to help increase their impact around the world."

(Photo credit: Andrew S. Wright)