Image: Left/Wikipedia/Right/Beautiful World
In November 2025, Prince William used the stage of the fourth annual United for Wildlife Global Summit in Rio de Janeiro to unveil a new alliance for the people who defend the Brazilian Amazon. The partnership aims to protect Indigenous leaders and nature defenders working across territory covering 110 million hectares. United for Wildlife said the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon reaches 750,000 Indigenous people across approximately 110 million hectares of Amazon territory.
The video was also published on DiCaprio’s Instagram page, and the Oscar winner said, “Nature is our most powerful solution. Its Executive Coordinator, Toya Manchineri, told the summit that the safety of those who defend the forests with their own lives must be central to global discussions. For Indigenous peoples, he said, the territory is sacred, a place where the spiritual and the material come together. Doctor Tom Clements, Executive Director of United for Wildlife, said that protecting the land and resources of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is one of the most effective ways to protect nature and fight climate change.
Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio added his voice to the occasion through a surprise video message. Here is what it promises. DiCaprio was not named as a partner in the initiative. His message gave added profile to its cause. The partnership will also raise global awareness of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and their vital role in protecting the Amazon, and will improve the monitoring of threats through a shared data platform. The scale comes from the Indigenous partner at its centre. He described protecting it as a mission inherited from ancestors and invited the world to join the struggle. He stressed that the initiative is built and led by Indigenous-governed delivery mechanisms, offering a model for how the global community can support nature protectors everywhere.
The initiative arrived days before the United Nations climate conference in Belém, at a time when destruction of the rainforest and violence against its guardians were rising.
