Why did Defra give DiCaprio charity £116k for ‘rewilding’?

AS THE nation tightens its purse strings in the costof-living crisis, cashstrapped taxpayers might be surprised to learn that a multi- millionaire Hollywood star’s charity has been benefiting from their hard-earned money.

I can reveal that charity Re:wild, co- founded by Oscar- winner Leonardo DiCaprio, has been handed more than £116,000 in grants by the UK Government, in the space of just a month.

The cash comes from a Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) scheme which gives out grants that help to protect biodiversity and the natural environment around the world.

Even though the actor, 47, is worth over £200 million, Re:wild, the conservation group he co-founded last year, has received four lump-sum donations totalling the eyebrow-raising amount.

Earlier this year, Defra granted the charity £28,800 of taxpayers’ cash to lobby for ‘rewilding’.

The money was used to protect a species of dwarf buffalo called the tamaraw in the Philippines.

And this will not be the last set of funds the cause will receive from British taxpayers — as a spokesman for Defra tells me this is an ongoing paying scheme.

‘The payments have been made to Re: wild as part of a three- year grant that they successfully secured,’ they confirm.

Let’s not forget this is the same Leonardo DiCaprio who reportedly spent $2.5 million on champagne for his 38th birthday bash, and flew 8,000 miles in a private jet from Cannes to New York and back again — to accept an environment award.