Lego has teamed up with National Geographic to launch some Lego City and Lego Friends sets designed to create awareness around the protection of endangered species.

National Geographic isn’t a new addition Lego’s seemingly unending roster of licensing deals – Lego previously released a couple of other sets connected to the brand.

The most interesting new sets are part of the Lego City series with a cool underwater Ocean Exploration Base and a large Ocean Exploration Ship set. The Lego Friends sets are aimed at younger children with colourful parts and simpler scenarios. All the sets are based on real-life settings though.

Lego says funds raised from the sets will go towards grants for ocean exploration and conservation.

The series has a campaign site designed to help kids and parents learn about the work to conserve pandas, sharks, elephants, deep-sea creatures and more. They can learn how their sets fit into the world of conservation.

Lego teams up with National Geographic for a new batch of Lego City and Friends sets photo 2

"Caring for our planet is becoming ever more relevant to kids around the world," says Lego designer Ellen Bowley. "They are more committed to seeing positive environmental change than any previous generation, and their creativity will play a key role in finding solutions that will help better protect our wildlife."