Nine philanthropic organisations have pledged more than $500 million over five years to prevent wildlife extinctions and help the world’s most threatened species recover. The Species Recovery Alliance was announced on October 16, 2026, ahead of the UN biodiversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia, bringing together the Bezos Earth Fund, founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and eight other organisations, including Rainforest Trust and Re. The initiative aims to coordinate conservation funding and expertise to support species recovery programmes worldwide. Rather than pooling the money into a single fund, the members will align their investments and work with local conservation partners. Their collective goal is to reverse population declines, help threatened species recover and restore the ecosystems on which wildlife depends.
Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund joins $500 million effort to reverse species decline
The Species Recovery Alliance has nine founding members: Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust, Bezos Earth Fund, Colossal Foundation, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Fondation Segré, Franklinia Foundation, Rainforest Trust, Re and WildLives Earth. Together, they aim to support the measurable recovery of species classified as extinct in the wild, critically endangered or endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.The Bezos Earth Fund is led by president and chief executive Tom Taylor under the direction of chairman Jeff Bezos and vice-chair Lauren Sánchez Bezos. The $500 million pledge is a collective commitment from all nine organisations. The announcement did not disclose how much each member would contribute individually.Wes Sechrest, co-founder and chief executive of Re, said the alliance was intended to make the recovery of threatened species a global conservation priority and ensure that organisations and local conservationists had the resources needed to carry out their work.
More than 31,000 species face extinction risks
According to the IUCN Red List figures cited in the alliance’s announcement, more than 31,000 species worldwide are classified as extinct in the wild, critically endangered or endangered. This includes more than 10,000 critically endangered species. More than 10% of the species in these categories have populations of fewer than 50 individuals remaining.Protecting natural habitats remains essential, but habitat protection alone may not be enough to save every threatened species. Research cited by the alliance indicates that 57% of threatened species also require targeted conservation interventions to support their survival and recovery.Such interventions can include conservation breeding, habitat restoration, genetic rescue, reintroducing species into areas where they have disappeared, disease management and controlling invasive species. Anti-poaching measures and other targeted actions may also be needed, depending on the threats facing individual species.The alliance aims to support these efforts with sustained investment, allowing conservation teams to carry out recovery programmes and assess their results over time.
Funding will be coordinated across conservation programmes
The alliance will not combine all its members’ contributions into a single central fund. Instead, the organisations will coordinate their investments, share knowledge and work with local conservation partners to support recovery measures suited to particular species and ecosystems.Members also plan to share lessons and report on progress using the IUCN’s Green Status of Species and Red List of Threatened Species. These assessment tools can help track conservation status and evaluate whether recovery programmes are improving the prospects of threatened wildlife.The founding members have called on additional philanthropic organisations and funders to join the initiative and increase global investment in species recovery. The alliance is intended to complement existing conservation programmes by improving coordination among funders and conservation practitioners, rather than replacing ongoing work.
A separate coalition of 17 governments also targets species recovery
The philanthropic alliance was announced alongside the Coalition of Action to Recover Endangered Species (CARES), a separate government-led initiative involving 17 governments, led by Colombia and Armenia. CARES aims to accelerate national action to prevent extinctions and advance Target 4 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.Target 4 focuses on preventing human-driven extinctions and supporting the recovery and conservation of threatened species. The wider biodiversity framework sets international goals for protecting nature and addressing the pressures driving biodiversity loss.Although both initiatives share the objective of recovering threatened species, they operate independently. The Species Recovery Alliance’s $500 million commitment is separate from CARES and will support species recovery programmes led by conservation organisations and local partners.Cristián Samper, managing director and leader of nature solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund, said protected areas alone could not save every endangered species. Many require urgent, targeted action to rebuild their populations. He called on more funders to join the alliance and more governments to participate in CARES.
Alliance builds on existing species recovery work
The Species Recovery Alliance will build on existing conservation partnerships, including the Phoenix Species Project, a collaboration between the Bezos Earth Fund and Re focused on recovering 100 of the world’s most threatened species.The Phoenix Species Project was launched in August 2026 with a $200 million commitment. Spanning 30 countries, it brings together sustained funding, scientific expertise and locally led conservation efforts to help species facing imminent extinction. The project is designed to demonstrate how targeted recovery programmes can be expanded to benefit more threatened wildlife.The Phoenix project’s $200 million commitment is separate from the new alliance’s collective pledge of more than $500 million. The two initiatives are related through the participation of the Bezos Earth Fund and Re, but the announcement does not state that the Phoenix funding forms part of the alliance’s new commitment.The Species Recovery Alliance comes as governments and conservation organisations face pressure to turn global biodiversity commitments into measurable results. Its progress will depend on how effectively members coordinate investments, support conservation teams and demonstrate improvements in the survival and recovery of threatened species over the next five years.
