Johannesburg - Leonardo di Caprio, Queen Noor of Jordan and former president Michail Gorbachev of Russia are to visit South Africa this month for the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD).

The film star, political hero and the lovely queen are guests of the international conservation organisation, IUCN.

Gorbachev, who founded the Green Cross conservation organisation in Russia in 1994, will take part in several panel discussions with Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairperson of Business Action for Sustainable Development.

Queen Noor and former president Nelson Mandela are to officially announce the World Parks Conference, scheduled for September next year in Durban. This conference is held every 10 years and sets the basis for national parks management in participating countries.

Mandela is also patron of the Peace Parks Foundation, an organisation aimed at promoting the establishment of cross-frontier parks.

Di Caprio is set to focus world attention on the Great Ape Survival Project, which strives to fight the extermination of gorillas and chimpanzees in central Africa.

The British government recently donated more than R10m towards the project.

An IUCN statement says more than 100 projects are to be announced during the Earth Summit's 10 days