Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, has made a significant commitment to African environmental conservation.
He has donated $22.8 million through his environmental foundation, The Bezos Earth foundation, to support locally-led restoration initiatives in Kenya’s Greater Rift Valley and the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin, which spans the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.
This generous funding is part of The Bezos Earth Fund‘s larger commitment of $1 billion dedicated to global landscape restoration. Notably, it builds on the fund’s previous $42.2 million investment, which was intended to accelerate the African rehabilitation program known as AFR100.
Andrew Steer, president and CEO of The Bezos Earth Fund, announced this significant commitment during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The summit also featured statements from Kenya’s First Lady, Rachel Ruto, and Second Lady, Dorcas Rigathi.
Rachel Ruto and Dorcas Rigathi both emphasized the critical role that restoration efforts play in empowering poor populations to improve their environments and livelihoods. Rachel Ruto, in particular, expressed a vision for African First Ladies to mobilize as advocates for grassroots, women-led restoration efforts across the continent.
Steer highlighted Africa’s importance in the global fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty.
He stated: “Africa is home to the world’s largest restoration opportunity and is a critical player in the global fight against climate change, nature loss, and poverty. Thirty-four African countries have proposed an ambitious vision to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. With these grants, we are proud to support the next generation of African institutions that are at the heart of the continent’s restoration movement and begin the vital work of leveraging philanthropy into private investment in restoration.”
Bezos and The Bezos Earth Fund made the announcement in October 2022, announcing plans to partner with African and European nations to strengthen land restoration initiatives.
The $22.8 million set aside for rehabilitation work is intended to cover 600,000 hectares of land. This ambitious project has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 42 million metric tonnes by 2050, which is comparable to removing 9.3 million gas-powered vehicles off the world’s roadways.
The Bezos Earth Fund funding will benefit community and grassroots-led organizations participating in many parts of restoration work. This includes initiatives such as native tree seed supply research, land change monitoring, fundraising, and investment facilitation for restoration projects.