Dave6170
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Leonardo DiCaprio urges Scotland to be a 'world leader' in rewilding efforts
The Oscar-winning actor shared a post on Instagram supporting the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.
Get stuffed Leo
- Thread starter Dave6170
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Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
Hes American , hes orobably got enough dosh to buy some of America and re wild his own patch , to be fair hes probably been fed aload of bloody lies about the whole thing anyways .
Be very careful with this guy, he needs to be watched at every turn.
He was behind behind Cowspiracy, that slanderous hatchet job of a film that claimed 49% of greenhouse gasses came from farm animals, which was pretty much the start of the medias persistent campaign against farming.
How the producers weren’t taken to task for it is a scandal in itself.
He was behind behind Cowspiracy, that slanderous hatchet job of a film that claimed 49% of greenhouse gasses came from farm animals, which was pretty much the start of the medias persistent campaign against farming.
How the producers weren’t taken to task for it is a scandal in itself.
M-J-G
Member
He's a bit of a joke theses days, I heard him described as "a wannabe Hugh Hefner who takes himself seriously"
Swarfmonkey
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- Location
- Hampshire
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
I just found this old article in the Telegraph, that I remembered reading a few years ago.
Colin Freeman5 November 2021 • 11:26am
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An artist's impression of the facilities on Blackadore Caye, Leonardo diCaprio's eco-resort CREDIT: McLennan Design
By Hollywood standards, Leonardo DiCaprio’s surprise appearance at Cop26 was a study in modesty. When the actor-turned-eco-warrior arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday, he chose not to join world leaders centre-stage, but headed to the gritty suburb of Maryhill, meeting activists at a fringe event. And while other wealthy delegates swanned in by private jet, DiCaprio flew commercial: as close, travel-wise, as A-listers ever get to slumming it.
Yet amid his earnest Tweets to his 19 million followers about the Global Methane Pledge and the need for “solidarity and action”, DiCaprio has been rather quieter about his own plan to stop the planet from extinction. Or, at least, one small, picturesque corner of it.
In 2015, the actor announced plans to build a “ground-breaking” eco-tourism resort at Blackadore Caye, a two-mile-long island in the Caribbean off Belize. The actor had fallen in love with it during a scuba-diving trip ten years before, describing it as “Heaven on earth”. But even Heaven could be made more eco-friendly, according to the plans he drew up after buying the island for $1.75 million (£1.3 million).
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Composed of luxury villas priced at up to $15m (£11m), the resort would be the “greenest luxury development” ever, according to its New Agey eco-blurb - parts of which sound like they might be aimed at Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow or the Duchess of Sussex. Residents would enjoy not just a holiday, but a “restorative” experience, complete with a “a renewal and anti-ageing centre” designed by the celebrity “wellness” guru Deepak Chopra.
Indeed, not only would the resort makes its guests feel better, it would even “heal” the island itself, courtesy of a sustainability program to reverse decades of deforestation and overfishing. Talking to the New York Times in 2015, DiCaprio sounded like he could have been Elon Musk planning his space venture. “The main focus is to do something that will change the world,” he declared.
Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow CREDIT: Stefan Rousseau
Six years on, however, the world around Blackadore Caye has changed very little. For DiCaprio’s project has fallen foul of fierce objections from locals, who claimed its design would harm the very eco-habitat it claimed to be saving. It was scheduled to open in 2018, but according to reports earlier this year, work has not yet even started, prompting speculation that the project may have been quietly abandoned.
So what has gone wrong? After all, tiny Belize – formerly British Honduras – is already a well-established home for eco-tourism, with holidaymakers flocking to admire its coral reefs and mangrove forests. The area, however, is also popular internationally for “flats fishing” – where anglers hunt game fish such as barracuda and tarpon in shallow island waters. Local fishing guides claimed the Blackadore Caye resort would deprive them of a prime spot that they had used for generations.
Had the resort’s backer been anyone other than DiCaprio, these gripes might not have got much attention. But as a champion of the rights of “indigenous” communities, DiCaprio soon found himself accused of hypocrisy. A local Facebook Page, Defend Blackadore Caye, quickly dug up a video of a speech he made after his Golden Globe award for The Revenant, where he pledged to “protect indigenous lands from corporate interests”.
That was then juxtaposed with interviews with local fishing guides such as George Rodriguez, who said he had been chased off Blackadore Caye by armed guards after stopping there with some fishing clients. “There was a guy with a shotgun, approaching us, pointing the gun at us,” Rodriguez said. “He said we have to leave because the bosses don’t want nobody on the island. I don’t think that is fair, because it belongs to everybody in Belize.”
It was not the first time that DiCaprio has been accused of failing to practice what he preaches. On paper, his green credentials are impressive. As well as holding a role as a UN environmental ambassador, he has donated millions to green causes and helped to produce documentaries such as Virunga, about the fight to save mountain gorillas from extinction.
For some, though, his lectures about the need to fight climate change sit uneasily with his jet-set lifestyle. While hosting a celebrity eco-fundraiser in St Tropez in 2016, for example, he was criticised for using a private plane.
Perhaps with those criticisms in mind, DiCaprio’s Blackadore Caye project was intended to be greener-than-green. As well as being solar-powered, the resort would be built using local materials, with dwellings echoing ancient Mayan culture. Half the island would be given over to an environmental research centre, with a manatee conservation area and a program to replant marine grasses and mangroves. Arriving guests would even get an eco-orientation lecture, including a ban on using plastic water bottles.
The resort would also create 400 jobs, a point not lost on many Belize locals, who argued that DiCaprio’s high profile meant he would be less likely to cut corners than other developers. “Why unu no left d man build?” said one post to the Defend Blackadore Caye page on Facebook, writing in local Creole. “U no tink he wl take care of d environnent knowing his public figure??? I’m sure dis project wl provide much needed jobs n wl boost bze (Belize’s) position on tourism on d global scale.”
Blackadore Caye would have been a luxury eco-retreat CREDIT: McLennan Design
The project, however, also faced opposition over a mainstay of its design: a plan to float the villas on a large arc-shaped platform, which would sit on the shallow waters around the island. A Miami-based conservation group, the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, warned this would jeopardise the habitats of the local “flats fishery”, and set a precedent inside what was already a protected marine reserve.
“The flats fishery of Belize is not only economically important, it’s also culturally important,” the group said. “The job of ‘flats fishing guide’ is frequently passed down through families for generations, and many of the lodges that host anglers are family-owned and operated.”
In the wake of the trust’s objections – and several stormy public meetings – the developers unveiled revised plans at the end of 2016 which scrapped the platforms, despite their having gained planning permission. Some may hail this as proof that DiCaprio has listened properly to local voices. Critics, though, may wonder why any eco-warrior would back the idea of a luxury holiday resort in the middle of the Caribbean in the first place.
Blackadore Caye remains undeveloped to this day CREDIT: GES
For a start, most of his well-heeled guests from Los Angeles or London will probably travel in by plane. And Dr Aaron Adams, of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, argues that such tourism does not benefit the area to the same degree as angling does.
“The fly-fishing industry generates a lot more expenditure per tourist on average,” he told The Telegraph. “It also employs many people who used to be commercial fishermen. If there’s going to be a use of coastal habitat resources, then fly-fishing is better than standard tourism.”
Yet the damage, he says, has already been done. In the wake of the planning approval for the floating platforms at Blackadore Caye, numerous other developers are now putting in proposals for them. The trust has asked the Blackadore Caye Development group to lobby the government to rescind all permissions, arguing that it has now set a damaging precedent.
“Leonardo DiCaprio paints himself as a global champion of conservation,” the trust added. “The responsible action here is to undo the damage that has been done in respect for [sic] the long-term health of Belize flats habitats and the fishery.”
Given that the project is already three years behind schedule, some might interpret that as PR-speak for saying that it may now never happen. If not, though, DiCaprio may have learned one valuable lesson that he might choose to pass on at Cop26: when it comes to changing the world, even the best-intentioned plans aren’t that easy.
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From ‘wellness’ to shotguns: how Leonardo DiCaprio’s Belize eco-dream turned sour
The A-lister and eco-activist turned up at Cop26 this week – but his own project in Central America seems to have hit the rocksColin Freeman5 November 2021 • 11:26am
Related Topics
An artist's impression of the facilities on Blackadore Caye, Leonardo diCaprio's eco-resort CREDIT: McLennan Design
By Hollywood standards, Leonardo DiCaprio’s surprise appearance at Cop26 was a study in modesty. When the actor-turned-eco-warrior arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday, he chose not to join world leaders centre-stage, but headed to the gritty suburb of Maryhill, meeting activists at a fringe event. And while other wealthy delegates swanned in by private jet, DiCaprio flew commercial: as close, travel-wise, as A-listers ever get to slumming it.
Yet amid his earnest Tweets to his 19 million followers about the Global Methane Pledge and the need for “solidarity and action”, DiCaprio has been rather quieter about his own plan to stop the planet from extinction. Or, at least, one small, picturesque corner of it.
In 2015, the actor announced plans to build a “ground-breaking” eco-tourism resort at Blackadore Caye, a two-mile-long island in the Caribbean off Belize. The actor had fallen in love with it during a scuba-diving trip ten years before, describing it as “Heaven on earth”. But even Heaven could be made more eco-friendly, according to the plans he drew up after buying the island for $1.75 million (£1.3 million).
Advertisement
Composed of luxury villas priced at up to $15m (£11m), the resort would be the “greenest luxury development” ever, according to its New Agey eco-blurb - parts of which sound like they might be aimed at Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow or the Duchess of Sussex. Residents would enjoy not just a holiday, but a “restorative” experience, complete with a “a renewal and anti-ageing centre” designed by the celebrity “wellness” guru Deepak Chopra.
Indeed, not only would the resort makes its guests feel better, it would even “heal” the island itself, courtesy of a sustainability program to reverse decades of deforestation and overfishing. Talking to the New York Times in 2015, DiCaprio sounded like he could have been Elon Musk planning his space venture. “The main focus is to do something that will change the world,” he declared.
Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow CREDIT: Stefan Rousseau
Six years on, however, the world around Blackadore Caye has changed very little. For DiCaprio’s project has fallen foul of fierce objections from locals, who claimed its design would harm the very eco-habitat it claimed to be saving. It was scheduled to open in 2018, but according to reports earlier this year, work has not yet even started, prompting speculation that the project may have been quietly abandoned.
So what has gone wrong? After all, tiny Belize – formerly British Honduras – is already a well-established home for eco-tourism, with holidaymakers flocking to admire its coral reefs and mangrove forests. The area, however, is also popular internationally for “flats fishing” – where anglers hunt game fish such as barracuda and tarpon in shallow island waters. Local fishing guides claimed the Blackadore Caye resort would deprive them of a prime spot that they had used for generations.
Had the resort’s backer been anyone other than DiCaprio, these gripes might not have got much attention. But as a champion of the rights of “indigenous” communities, DiCaprio soon found himself accused of hypocrisy. A local Facebook Page, Defend Blackadore Caye, quickly dug up a video of a speech he made after his Golden Globe award for The Revenant, where he pledged to “protect indigenous lands from corporate interests”.
That was then juxtaposed with interviews with local fishing guides such as George Rodriguez, who said he had been chased off Blackadore Caye by armed guards after stopping there with some fishing clients. “There was a guy with a shotgun, approaching us, pointing the gun at us,” Rodriguez said. “He said we have to leave because the bosses don’t want nobody on the island. I don’t think that is fair, because it belongs to everybody in Belize.”
It was not the first time that DiCaprio has been accused of failing to practice what he preaches. On paper, his green credentials are impressive. As well as holding a role as a UN environmental ambassador, he has donated millions to green causes and helped to produce documentaries such as Virunga, about the fight to save mountain gorillas from extinction.
For some, though, his lectures about the need to fight climate change sit uneasily with his jet-set lifestyle. While hosting a celebrity eco-fundraiser in St Tropez in 2016, for example, he was criticised for using a private plane.
Perhaps with those criticisms in mind, DiCaprio’s Blackadore Caye project was intended to be greener-than-green. As well as being solar-powered, the resort would be built using local materials, with dwellings echoing ancient Mayan culture. Half the island would be given over to an environmental research centre, with a manatee conservation area and a program to replant marine grasses and mangroves. Arriving guests would even get an eco-orientation lecture, including a ban on using plastic water bottles.
The resort would also create 400 jobs, a point not lost on many Belize locals, who argued that DiCaprio’s high profile meant he would be less likely to cut corners than other developers. “Why unu no left d man build?” said one post to the Defend Blackadore Caye page on Facebook, writing in local Creole. “U no tink he wl take care of d environnent knowing his public figure??? I’m sure dis project wl provide much needed jobs n wl boost bze (Belize’s) position on tourism on d global scale.”
Blackadore Caye would have been a luxury eco-retreat CREDIT: McLennan Design
The project, however, also faced opposition over a mainstay of its design: a plan to float the villas on a large arc-shaped platform, which would sit on the shallow waters around the island. A Miami-based conservation group, the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, warned this would jeopardise the habitats of the local “flats fishery”, and set a precedent inside what was already a protected marine reserve.
“The flats fishery of Belize is not only economically important, it’s also culturally important,” the group said. “The job of ‘flats fishing guide’ is frequently passed down through families for generations, and many of the lodges that host anglers are family-owned and operated.”
In the wake of the trust’s objections – and several stormy public meetings – the developers unveiled revised plans at the end of 2016 which scrapped the platforms, despite their having gained planning permission. Some may hail this as proof that DiCaprio has listened properly to local voices. Critics, though, may wonder why any eco-warrior would back the idea of a luxury holiday resort in the middle of the Caribbean in the first place.
Blackadore Caye remains undeveloped to this day CREDIT: GES
For a start, most of his well-heeled guests from Los Angeles or London will probably travel in by plane. And Dr Aaron Adams, of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, argues that such tourism does not benefit the area to the same degree as angling does.
“The fly-fishing industry generates a lot more expenditure per tourist on average,” he told The Telegraph. “It also employs many people who used to be commercial fishermen. If there’s going to be a use of coastal habitat resources, then fly-fishing is better than standard tourism.”
Yet the damage, he says, has already been done. In the wake of the planning approval for the floating platforms at Blackadore Caye, numerous other developers are now putting in proposals for them. The trust has asked the Blackadore Caye Development group to lobby the government to rescind all permissions, arguing that it has now set a damaging precedent.
“Leonardo DiCaprio paints himself as a global champion of conservation,” the trust added. “The responsible action here is to undo the damage that has been done in respect for [sic] the long-term health of Belize flats habitats and the fishery.”
Given that the project is already three years behind schedule, some might interpret that as PR-speak for saying that it may now never happen. If not, though, DiCaprio may have learned one valuable lesson that he might choose to pass on at Cop26: when it comes to changing the world, even the best-intentioned plans aren’t that easy.
Related Topics
License this content
The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our commenting policy.
Show comments
- Location
- Durham, UK
Isnt he busy chasing women that are far too young for him......the creep
- Location
- Scottish Borders
I just read the other week he has got rid of his latest squeeze as she turned 25. He likes to get rid at that age as he doesn't want to lead them on thinking they will end up as Mrs DeCaprio! Such a generous soul!
- Location
- DD9.
Just another multi-millionaire narcissistic nerk affiliating himself with the climate change 'industry' to overcome guilt.
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
or, maybe, at 25, they start to have their own ideas and opinions.
To be fair he is right, rewilding 30% of Scotland and the world would deliver a huge boost to the climate, half the population would starve or kill each other fighting over the food that was left. Fewer humans would sort all the problems, perhaps he could start the process and stop eating for a few monthsLeonardo DiCaprio urges Scotland to be a 'world leader' in rewilding efforts
The Oscar-winning actor shared a post on Instagram supporting the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.news.sky.com
Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
Breathing would better save a bit of time.
- Location
- DD9.
Wonder if that bellend has ever been to Scotland, you don’t have to go far to be in the mamba area.
Miles and miles of bugger all.
no doubt the wrong type of wild tho. his bourgeois ideal of “wild” will involve a lot of intervention, control and restrictions on the plebs.
Miles and miles of bugger all.
no doubt the wrong type of wild tho. his bourgeois ideal of “wild” will involve a lot of intervention, control and restrictions on the plebs.
He has, air travelling celebrity golfer, a regular at Carnoustie & St Andrews, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Celebrity pro-ams etc.
That's probably where he has his love ins with the Champagne Socialist Beaver lickers at the 'Scottish Rewilding Alliance'
There was talk of him buying an Estate a few years ago & some tie up with other celebrity climate 'industry' zealots wishing to play at being wildlife park owners.
That's probably where he has his love ins with the Champagne Socialist Beaver lickers at the 'Scottish Rewilding Alliance'
There was talk of him buying an Estate a few years ago & some tie up with other celebrity climate 'industry' zealots wishing to play at being wildlife park owners.
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BPR is not just a farming issue, it affects ALL business, it removes incentive to invest for growth
Join us @LondonPalladium on the 16th for beginning of UK business fight back
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lwtheatres.co.uk