Disney is kicking off Earth Month with a fresh round of conservation funding, and this year’s reach is global. The Disney Conservation Fund is supporting 25 organizations in 16 countries in 2026. That latest round of grants brings the fund’s lifetime conservation investment to more than $141 million since 1995.
These projects will help protect, restore, and rewild more than 120,000 square miles of corridor habitat around the world. That gives this story real scale. It also shows how Disney continues to connect conservation work to the animals and ecosystems guests know from the parks.
A Bigger Earth Month Story
Disney is using Earth Month to highlight conservation and sustainability efforts leading up to Earth Day on April 22. These grants are part of Disney Planet Possible, the company’s environmental commitment focused on meaningful action for wildlife and people.
This announcement stands out because it goes beyond a simple Earth Day message. Instead, it shows where Disney is putting funding and how those projects connect to real habitats, wildlife movement, and community partnerships.
Five Projects Disney Spotlighted
Save the Elephants in Kenya
One featured project supports Save the Elephants in Kenya. The work focuses on creating a community conservancy near Tsavo East National Park to protect a critical 12.5-square-mile wildlife corridor.
That corridor will help elephants move more safely between protected areas, including through a railway underpass in a fast-developing region. The project also supports jobs, livelihoods, and long-term human-elephant management strategies for local communities. For Disney fans, this is the clearest connection to Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It takes the conservation message guests see in the park and extends it into real-world action.
Bat Conservation International in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest
Disney also highlighted work by Bat Conservation International. This project is restoring migratory pathways for nectar-feeding bats across Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
The effort reconnects eight key stopover sites across 675 miles and includes planting nearly 140,000 native agave plants. It supports species including the greater long-nosed bat, lesser long-nosed bat, and Mexican long-tongued bat.
This is a strong reminder that bats are important pollinators. It also fits with the way Disney’s Animal Kingdom uses live animals and storytelling to challenge assumptions and spark curiosity.
Ocean First Institute in the Florida Keys
Another featured grant supports Ocean First Institute and its work to protect great hammerhead sharks in the Florida Keys. Researchers are using satellite tagging and remote underwater video systems to better understand how these critically endangered sharks move through marine corridors.
Over the next two years, the project aims to protect about 60 nautical miles of marine corridors in the Upper Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. That gives Disney fans an easy connection to The Seas with Nemo & Friends at EPCOT and the broader message that sharks are essential to healthy ocean ecosystems.
Monarch Joint Venture in California
Disney also spotlighted Monarch Joint Venture. The group is working to restore and connect 15 miles of monarch butterfly habitat in California’s Bay Area and Central Valley.
The project includes distributing and installing about 6,000 native plants while involving homeowners, farmers, and students in habitat restoration. That community-based approach makes this one especially timely for EPCOT fans who already connect with butterflies during the Flower & Garden Festival.
Proyecto Tití and Wildlife Conservation Network in Colombia
The fifth featured project supports Proyecto Tití and Wildlife Conservation Network in Colombia. Their work focuses on cotton-top tamarins, one of the most endangered primates in the wild.
The effort will extend protected areas by about 6 square miles and supports a larger goal of creating a 20-mile regional forest corridor between key habitats. It also includes education, forest restoration, and sustainable agriculture work with local communities.
That gives Animal Kingdom fans another direct link between the wildlife they encounter in the parks and the conservation work happening in the field.
Why This Matters for Disney Fans
What makes this story stronger than a typical corporate sustainability update is how clearly Disney ties these grants back to guest experiences.
Elephants connect to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Sharks connect to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Monarch butterflies connect to EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival. Cotton-top tamarins and bats connect to Animal Kingdom’s larger conservation message.
That approach helps Disney turn a global conservation update into something fans can understand and relate to. It also reinforces the idea that Disney storytelling is not limited to attractions, films, or cruise ships. In this case, it supports real conservation work beyond the parks.
Sam’s Disney Diary Take
This is the kind of Disney story that can be easy to miss because it is not tied to a major ride, a movie trailer, or a new ship announcement. Still, it is one of the better Earth Month stories Disney puts out because there is real substance behind it.
The Disney Conservation Fund has now invested more than $141 million since 1995, and the 2026 grants support projects across 16 countries. That is not small. More importantly, Disney is smartly connecting those projects to the animals and habitats guests already recognize from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and EPCOT.
That makes this more than an Earth Month headline. It is a look at how Disney uses storytelling, guest awareness, and direct funding together to support conservation in the real world.
