Leonardo DiCaprio to donate $15M to environmental groups

LOS ANGELES, July 14 (UPI) -- Leonardo DiCaprio will donate $15 million to environmental groups this year.

The 43-year-old actor pledged the funds through his foundation this week to 27 organizations working on conservation projects around the globe, including Save the Elephants and National Geographic Pristine Seas.

"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 grants will help the groups "to protect key species and threatened marine and terrestrial ecosystems" and empower "indigenous communities to be the long-term stewards and protectors of their natural resources."

"No organization or individual alone can protect our planet's life-giving engine," National Geographic explorer-in-residence Dr. Enric Sala said. "Partnering with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation allows National Geographic Pristine Seas to help protect the wildest places in the ocean."

DiCaprio established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 2010, and has funded more then 70 projects in 40 different countries. The actor was honored for his environmental activism by Bill and Hillary Clinton and the United Nations in 2014.