19 June,2014 09:07 AM IST | | PTI
Superstar Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged to donate USD 7 million from his foundation to marine conservation projects for the next two years
Leonardo DiCaprio
Los Angeles: Superstar Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged to donate USD 7 million from his foundation to marine conservation projects for the next two years.
Leonardo DiCaprio. Pic/Santa Banta
DiCaprio, 39, made the big announcement at the State Department "Our Ocean" conference on June 16, reported Ace Showbiz.
"Since my very first dive in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia 20 years ago to the dive I got to do in the very same location just two years ago, I've witnessed environmental devastation firsthand," he said.
The "Wolf of Wall Street" star added, "What once had looked like an endless underwater utopia is now riddled with bleached coral reefs and massive dead zones."
The "Shutter Island" actor who dreamt of becoming a marine biologist further added, "What we need is sustained activism and courageous political leadership. We cannot afford to be bystanders in this pre-apocalyptic scenario.
This isn't simply an exercise in wildlife conservation. If we don't do something to save the ocean now, it won't be just the sharks and the dolphins that suffer. It will be our children and our grandchildren."
