ANGELINA JOLIE
FUNDS WILDLIFE PROJECT
Copyright 2003 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ April 11th 2003 ]
Hollywood
star Angelina Jolie has agreed to pay $5 million
over the next 15 years to set up a wildlife sanctuary
in a former Khmer Rouge-controlled area of Cambodia,
a senior charity official said on Friday. Jolie,
who fell in love with the war-scarred southeast
Asian nation while filming the action movie "Lara
Croft: Tomb Raider", has already paid a first
instalment of $350,000 to get the ball rolling,
Mounh Sarath, head of Cambodian Vision in Development,
told Reuters.
The project
aims to protect more than 20,000 hectares (49,500
acres) of forest in northwest Cambodia, which
five years ago was still controlled by remnants
of the brutal ultra-communist Khmer Rouge, responsible
for the genocide of the "Killing Fields". The
money would also go towards helping war veterans
and amputees rebuild their lives, the charity
said. "This is a great opportunity for us to restore
deforested areas and protect wildlife to ensure
local communities will not destroy them," Mounh
Sarath said.
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