Leonardo DiCaprio: Hollywood actor to help the Galápagos Islands

The pledge will be used to help reintroduce 13 locally extinct species to the islands

The importance of protecting the environment is a big issue for many, and lots of people have been taking steps to help look after the planet.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has announced he'll be involved in pledging $43 million (£30.2 million) to help protect the Galápagos Islands.

They're in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador in South America.

It's part of an initiative the actor is carrying out in partnership with the conservation charity Re:wild. Conservation scientists, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation and local communities on the islands are also involved.

Important actions will be taken to look after endangered animals in the Galápagos and to protect the island's wildlife.

The pledge will be used to help fund efforts to restore Floreana Island, one of the 19 islands in the Galápagos, and reintroduce 13 locally extinct species, including the Floreana mockingbird. It was the first mockingbird described by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle in 1835.

DiCaprio has also praised the work of island restoration specialist Paula A Castano who has done lots of work in the Galápagos. She took over his Instagram and Twitter accounts on Monday to share information on her team's rewilding efforts.

The Floreana mockingbird is the smallest of the four Galapagos mockingbird species

DiCaprio posted on Twitter saying: "More than half of Earth's remaining wild areas could disappear in the next few decades if we don't decisively act."

He added that the project should help "to bring the pink iguana, the Floreana giant tortoise and the Floreana mockingbird back from the brink of extinction, and to ensure the people of the Galapagos thrive with the wild".

"The environmental heroes that the planet needs are already here. Now we all must rise to the challenge and join them," he said.