Saving Real Acres in Real Places

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Saving Real Acres in Real Places

2009

2010

2012

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Why I support World Land Trust

by Sir David Attenborough

To save endangered species you need to save the land - the whole ecosystem

When I'm asked why I support World Land Trust I say that it can be summed up by the following reasons. They are short and to the point, which is what I like about WLT:

First, they save land “Fifty years ago, in the conservation movement’s early days, there was a great emphasis on individual endangered species - Giant Pandas, Oryx, particular species of birds. We eventually realised, however, that the important unit was not a particular species but a whole ecosystem.

Indeed, in the long run, you will not save those endangered species unless you save the whole ecosystem. To save an ecosystem you need to save the land. That is what WLT’s programme partner NGOs do with funds raised by WLT. By protecting whole ecosystems, they not only protect the mammals that everyone knows, but protect the smallest insects and plants, many of which haven’t even been discovered.”

Second, WLT does not own the land “WLT raises funds to buy land but ownership is with the local organisation. It is vitally important that all land that is saved belongs to the people of that country as it is they who take on the responsibility of its protection. WLT will help them with the management of the land and, indeed on any other matters that they request, but it is the overseas partners that own it.”

The Narupa Reserve in north east Ecuador, owned by WLT partner, Fundación Jocotoco.

Funded with support from WLT this reserve is home to globally threatened bird species, including the Military Macaw, as well as Jaguar, Puma and Mountain Tapir.

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Third, WLT keeps its overheads low It is vital that the land saved belongs to the people of that country

“They do this by keeping their administration to a bare minimum - their staff is small and they do not have fancy offices in an expensive location.”

Your donation reaches the people it was intended for “WLT raises funds for land purchase and the protection of the reserves they have helped create. Staff do not spend their time writing reports and carrying out research - they let their local project partners do that. So funds raised by WLT go directly to saving those precious ecosystems and their endangered species.

The Trust has been hugely successful in a relatively short time and there is certainly much to celebrate this year. Of course there is still much left to be done but I am sure that the World Land Trust will go on to raise more funds and save more wildlife and their habitats in the years to come.

As well as funding land purchase WLT helps partners protect the reserves that have been created. Monitoring endangered species is an important part of their work.

Here ranger Pablo Antonio Millán is checking a nest of fledgling Yellow-shouldered Parrots, a threatened species protected by ProVita on Margarita Island, Venezuela. Pablo is funded through WLT’s Keepers of the Wild programme.

The money that is given to the World Land Trust, in my estimation, has more effect on the wild world than almost anything I can think of.

Sir David Attenborough speaking at a lecture entitled Biodiversity and Business: The Cost of Life on Earth in January 2012

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The first 10 years How it all began. The Belize connection October, 1988

8 May, 1989: The late Gerald Durrell and his wife, Lee, flew over from Jersey to help launch Programe for Belize at the London Butterfly House. Lee is now a WLT Council Member.

From the USA Jerry Bertrand (now WLT’s Honorary President) contacted John Burton (now WLT CEO) to ask if he thought he could raise funds in the UK to help save 110,000 acres of tropical forest in Belize which was about to be bought and cleared to make way for agriculture. The project’s name was Programme for Belize and John’s immediate response was YES. In 1989 John and his wife, Viv, set about establishing a small fundraising office from their Suffolk home with one of the first fax machines in the country. The latter was essential for communicating regularly with both North America and Belize since email was still a thing of the future.

The charity was registered, trustees were appointed and WLT pioneered fundraising through Buy an Acre. At that time it cost less than £25 to buy an acre in Belize. It was a great success and today Programme for Belize, based in Belize City, protects 262,000 acres.

Launching a new concept In the words of Jerry Bertrand “People in the USA just didn’t realise that over 65 per cent of the birds in New England are really not temperate birds, they’re tropical birds that just happen to come north to breed. They’re in the USA for just four months a year, but the rest of the time they are in Central and South America and we have a duty to protect ‘their’ forests.”

World Land Trust is an exemplary model of how biodiversity conservation should be done.

It is a trim and focused organisation, proficient in the ways of protecting species, habitats and landscapes for the long term in a multiplicity of countries and cultures. If only there were dozens of WLTs! Dr Lee Durrell, Honorary Director, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Naturalist and Author, WLT Council Member

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And onwards to the threatened forests of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica and the island of Danjugan in the Philippines July 1994 Bill Oddie launched WLT’s second project: Rainforest Action Costa Rica working with the TUVA Foundation in Costa Rica.

The focus was on the Osa Peninsula where land-owning campesino farmers were under great pressure to sell up their land to speculators. The community work carried out by TUVA was, and continues to be, extremely successful and WLT raised funds to purchase threatened land that was incorporated into Corcovado National Park.

September 1994

Danjugan Island is a green jewel set in the Sulu Sea. WLT supporters helped save it as a protected nature reserve.

David Bellamy helped launch the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Project. He is joined by (l-r) Gerry Ledesma (President of the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation in the Philippines), David Tate (Tate & Lyle, sponsors) and Mrs Serrano, Consul from the Philippines Embassy in London.

The Philippine Reef & Rainforest Project was launched at the Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly House by David Bellamy.

The challenge: to raise funds to buy the island of Danjugan, in the Visayan Island Group, and save it from unsympathetic commercial development. Danjugan is one of the few islands in the group to retain its original forest cover which is home to endemic species and a vital stopping-off place for migrating birds in the southern hemisphere. The island was saved and WLT maintains its support of the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation and has subsequently funded a Keeper of the Wild (ranger) and a variety of projects including mangrove reforestation on the mainland island of Negros.

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Conservation in action New hopes for the wildlife of Patagonia’s coastal steppe Summer, 1999 WLT launches its 10th Anniversary Project, to protect the disappearing Patagonia Coastal Steppe. Adjacent to the wildliferich Valdes Peninsula, where the sequence of Killer Whales and Seal Lion pups, seen in Sir David Attenborough’s Trials of Life TV series, was filmed, The Estancia la Esperanza (Ranch of Hopes) now protects 15,000 acres (6,250 hectares) of coastal steppe and 12km of coastline.

In partnership with local NGO, Fundación Patagonia Natural, funds were raised over the following five years and the Ranch of Hopes Wildlife Refuge now protects vital fauna and flora of the coastal steppe, including large mammals such as Puma, Geoffroy’s Cat and Guanaco.

This area of coastal steppe is one of the world’s great wildernesses, with outstanding wildlife spectacles including Elephant Seals, Killer Whales and Magellanic Penguins along the coastline, and Guanaco, Burrowing Owls and Rheas on the grasslands. WLT’s efforts to protect this wonderful habitat are to be applauded.

Sir David Attenborough, Patron WLT

A young Guanaco looks out to sea from the Ranch of Hopes, a reserve funded by WLT, to protect Patagonia’s coastal steppe.

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A partnership with Fundación Jocotoco in 1999 is the first of four partnerships with Ecuadorian NGOs Ecuador, 1999 - to present day WLT’s first partner in Ecuador was Fundación Jocotoco. In 2001 they had purchased three reserves: at Tapichalaca, Yunguilla and Buenaventura. Since then seven more reserves have been added, all protecting unique species and their habitats and, where possible, connecting to other protected areas to safeguard species that migrate altitudinally. For instance the Tapichalaca Reserve abuts Podocarpus National Park, and protects the Jocotoco Antpitta only discovered in 1997.

Three new partners in Ecuador

An Ecuadorian Hillstar, feeding on Chuguiragua. These high-altitude hummingbirds prefer the dry grassy areas and humid rocky slopes of the upper parts of the páramo.

In 2014 Fundación Jocotoco secured its 10th reserve, the Antisanilla Biological Reserve, which protects 7,000 acres (2,833 hectares) on the western slopes of the Antisana Volcano in central Ecuador. Ecuadorian Hillstars can be seen in the páramo on this reserve.

Over the past decade WLT has also formed partnerships with three other NGOs in Ecuador. Fundación EcoMinga protects unique habitat between the Los Llanganates and Sangay National Parks in central Ecuador; it is within a Biodiversity Hotspot for rare orchids, and many species new to science have been discovered. Its cloud forest and páramo are home to Spectacled Bear, Mountain Tapir and several monkey species. Fundación Pro-Bosque manages Cerro Blanco Protected Forest, close to Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil. This is one of the last remaining Ecuadorian dry forests and is vital for the survival of the Great Green Macaw. WLT also funds land purchase through Naturaleza y Cultura, Ecuador to conserve their projects conserve dry coastal forests, rich cloud forest and Andean mountains, and rainforest of the Amazon basin.

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Saving land: it’s what we do Where we do it It has been a step by step journey from the early days with Programme for Belize, Rainforest Action Costa Rica and the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Project, until today when World Land Trust works with 29 conservation partner organisations across the world. WLT raises funds for land purchase and protection in the following ways:

WLT works with overseas programme partners in the countries marked on the map

UK Armenia

Mexico Guatemala

Buy an Acre funding can still purchase an acre for around £100 in some parts of the world. These are real acres in real places, saved forever thanks to WLT supporters.

Special Appeals. Over the years WLT has launched Special Appeals to raise funds where there has been a conservation crisis.

On Margarita Island, Venezuela, for instance, Yellow-shouldered Parrots needed urgent protection against illegal collection for the pet trade. WLT has also launched Special Appeals to save strategically important parcels of land in Armenia, Borneo, India and Paraguay.

Keepers of the Wild funding enables our overseas partners to employ rangers to ensure the protection of reserves.

Plant a Tree funding makes it possible to replant native tree species where land had been cleared prior to purchase.

Iran India

Belize Honduras Venezuela

Ecuador Peru

Colombia

Philippines

Malaysian Borneo

Zambia

Bolivia Paraguay Chile

Kenya

Vietnam

Brazil Argentina

Buy an Acre

Buy an Acre

We save threatened land for just £100 an acre in the following countries:

Other countries where WLT has an active conservation partner and land purchase has, or is, taking place.

Many of these projects have been funded by Special Appeals.

• Bolivia • Colombia • Ecuador • Mexico

WLT also funds Keepers of the Wild in many of these countries and Plant a Tree donations have been used to restore forest in Brazil and in Ecuador.

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Land purchase and its impact Between 1989 and the end of 2013 WLT had been instrumental in the long term protection of the following acres.

Argentina .................................................24,301 Armenia .........................................................2,576 Belize..........................................................260,000 Bolivia...........................................................26,350 Malaysian Borneo ...................................925 Brazil .................................................................4,778 Costa Rica ...................................................5,000 Colombia ...................................................12,095 Ecuador ......................................................21,482 Guatemala ...................................................1,668 India ...................................................................6,489 Kenya .........................................................................50 Mexico .............................................................5,990 Paraguay ...................................................57,700 Philippines .......................................................106 Tanzania .............................................................263 Venezuela .....................................................1,809

These figures do not take into account the ‘leverage’ effect of WLT’s funding. Frequently other organisations combine with WLT to fund land purchases, particularly IUCN Netherlands, Rainforest Trust and American Bird Conservancy.

WLT’s mission is to buy and protect land and to fund the sustainable management of the world’s natural ecosystems

Buy an Acre

Buy an Acre

Carbon Balanced and Plant a Tree

Special Appeal

Special Appeals

Keepers of the Wild

WLT Action Fund for the Trust’s most urgent needs across its projects WLT Friends donate to the WLT Action Fund

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A Conservation Alliance Saving land and wildlife depends on people WLT works with 29 overseas programme partners Africa Nature Kenya Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia

Asia Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife & Cultural Assets (Armenia) Hutan (Malaysian Borneo) Iranian Cheetah Society LEAP Spiral (Malaysian Borneo) Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation Viet Nature Conservation Centre (Vietnam) Wildlife Trust of India

Fundación Melimoyu (Chile) Fundación Naturaleza para el Futuro (Argentina) Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservation (Guatemala) Fundación Patagonia Natural (Argentina) Fundación ProAves (Colombia) Fundación Pro-Bosque (Ecuador) Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (Mexico) Guyra Paraguay Naturaleza y Cultura Ecuador Naturaleza y Cultura Peru Programme for Belize Reserva Ecológica de Guapi Assu (Brazil)

UK

Central and South America

The Conservation Volunteers

Asociación Armonía (Bolivia) Asociación Civil Provita (Venezuela) Asociación Ecológica de San Marcos de Ocotepeque (AESMO) (Honduras) Fundação Grupo Boticário (Brazil) Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina Fundación EcoMinga (Ecuador) Fundación Jocotoco (Ecuador)

WLT works closely with the following organisations Acciónatura (Spain) American Bird Conservancy Birdlife International IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands Rainforest Trust (formerly World Land Trust-US)

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Major players in conservation WLT’s overseas partners have agreed that, if possible, WLT should host meetings every 18 months or so for them to exchange knowledge and discuss solutions to problems they face working in their own countries The first Partner Symposium was held in the Netherlands in 2006 and entitled Land Purchase as an Intervention Strategy for Nature Conservation. In 2008 partners met in Belize to discuss Financial Sustainability of Protected Areas and in 2010 the symposium, held in Brazil, focused on Payments for Ecological Services as a tool for Conservation. In 2012, at Kew Gardens, partners shared experiences of Working with local communities. During break times and in the evenings, many other topics are discussed and the results of these symposia and related topics have been published.

The Glastonbury of the bird world, the British Birdwatching Fair, takes place at Rutland Water every August. WLT has a stand and invites partners to join them to promote their work and birding destinations. In 2013 we were joined by Denis Mosquera (left), a researcher and specialist bird guide from Fundación Pro-Bosque, Ecuador, and Dr Isabelle Lackman (second from right) from Hutan, who was in the UK to launch the Trust’s Borneo Rainforest Appeal.

They are seen here with WLT staff members, Charlotte Beckham (second left) and Kelly Jacobs (right).

Representatives of some of WLT’s overseas programme partners. Left to right: Lou Jost (co-founder of Fundación EcoMinga), Edilberto Romero (Exec Director, Programme for Belize), Alberto Yanosky (Exec Director, Guyra Paraguay), Roberto Pedraza (Technical Director, GESG), Nicholas Locke (Reserve Director, REGUA), Bibiana Sucre (BioGente Programme Coordinator, Provita), Ruben Khachatryan (Founder/director, FPWC) and Marco Cerezo (Gen Director, FUNDAECO).

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Sustainable protection against the odds Creating Elephant corridors in India Elephants live in family herds that travel vast distances using traditional migration routes, but this is no longer compatible with India’s burgeoning population. Elephant-human conflict is unavoidable and the clearance of forest to make way for settlements, agriculture and mining means that natural habitats only remain in isolated patches.

Right of Passage is a book that was published by Wildlife Trust of India in 2005. It identifies 88 ‘Elephant Corridors of India’ vital to the survival of elephants. WLT has assisted in the protection of corridors in three areas shown in red on the map.

In order to create effective corridors for the future, funds are urgently needed to purchase land and voluntarily relocate communities living within the corridors. Villagers are usually keen to move as they live in daily fear of their crops being wrecked.

Tigers close to human settlements are also in conflict and WLT is hoping to fund corridors around Corbett National Park.

You can’t continue to let one billion people live in such close proximity to 65 per cent of the world’s Tigers, 85 per cent of the Elephants in Asia, and 90 per cent of the Rhinos in Asia. These large animals need space, and they will kill you in order to get that space.

I have only one solution – give them space.

Vivek Menon, Exec Director, Wildlife Trust of India

Elephant and calf using the Tirunelli-Kudrakote corridor This heart-warming image, taken in 2013, shows a mother and her calf moving safely through the wildlife corridor that has been created in Kerala.

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One Million pounds for Orang-utans in Borneo Launched in 2013, the Borneo Rainforest Appeal set out to raise One Million pounds for Orang-utans in Malaysian Borneo.

Focusing on the north bank of the Kinabatangan River, the aim is to create the Keruak Wildife Corridor by purchasing strategically important parcels of forest for wildlife so that they do not become isolated in forest fragments.

Thanks to WLT supporters, particularly during Big Match Fortnight in October 2013, we had unprecedented success with fundraising for this project. The million pounds was reached as we went to press and land purchase is taking place. But there is still much left to do in this threatened region.

Orang-utans. Absolutely extraordinary animals and easy to see why they generate so much affection. And when you look into their eyes it’s like a reflection in a not so distant mirror. I’m pleased to add my support to World Land Trust’s efforts.

Chris Packham, television presenter, wildlife photographer, author and natural history expert; Patron, World Land Trust

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Adventures into Paraguay: habitats of contrast In the beginning, the Chaco-Pantanal Reserve 2001: a legacy kick-starts WLT conservation commitment in Paraguay Alberto Yanosky, Director of Guyra Paraguay, had, for several years, been encouraging WLT to help save threatened land in Paraguay. In 2005 this became a reality when the executors of a legacy proposed creating an in memoriam reserve. Executors, Lee and Liz Harper, visited Paraguay with John Burton (WLT CEO) and decided that the Chaco-Pantanal was ideal. Shortly afterwards the Sid Templer Reserve was created saving 8,650 acres (3,500 hectares) of land adjacent to the Rio Negro. Today, with help from the Generations Trust and other significant WLT supporters, the Reserve protects over 35,000 acres (14,164 ha).

Saving the Three Giants The Sid Templer Reserve quickly became synonymous with the ‘three giants’ living on the reserve area, all of which are threatened: the Giant Anteater, Giant Otter and Giant Armadillo.

The research station subsequently built with funds donated by WLT Council Member, Kevin Cox is now known as the Three Giants Biological Station.

Sir David Attenborough has spoken of his love of Paraguay ever since his filming trips there over 50 years ago for BBC’s Zoo Quest

programmes. At WLT’s AGM in 2008 he said: “This is one of the last great wilderness areas left in the world and it is hugely encouraging that much of it is as it was when I was there.

I applaud World Land Trust and Guyra Paraguay in their efforts to save what is left before it’s too late.” Unfortunately, since 2008 deforestation has accelerated and stands at over 1,000 acres a day.

The Three Giants: Giant Otters (top left) visit the Three Giants Biological Station regularly. The Giant Anteater was also photographed at the Station. Giant Armadillos are rarely seen.

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Moving on ...

Saving Guyra Reta Reserve and Dry Chaco NORTH AMERICA

EQUATOR

Atlantic Ocean

SOUTH AMERICA

PARAGUAY

BOLIVIA

Pantanal ChacoPantanal Reserve

Campo Iris Reserve Dry Chaco

TROPIC OF CAPRICORN

BRAZIL

Cerrado

PARAGUAY

Humid Chaco

Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Forest ARGENTINA

Guyra Reta Reserve

Since 2005 WLT has helped Guyra Paraguay purchase and protect reserves in the Chaco-Pantanal, Dry Chaco and Atlantic Rainforest. (Main habitats are labelled in green)

Atlantic Rainforest: Guyra Reta Reserve WLT has helped save 1,550 acres (627 hectares) of Atlantic rainforest in Paraguay. This humid tropical forest is a Biodiversity Hotspot because of its large number of endemic species. The reserve has over 300 bird species including King Vulture and Crested Eagle, and 40 species of mammal have been recorded.

The habitat surrounding the reserve is threatened by the demands for biofuels and soya. WLT has also worked with Guyra Paraguay to reforest areas of Atlantic Rainforest, with funds raised through Plant a Tree and Carbon Balanced donations.

Nick Baker, television presenter and World Land Trust ambassador, has appealed to the people of Paraguay to protect the Chaco from further deforestation.

Nick was speaking at a public lecture in Asunci贸n, the capital of Paraguay, at the end of a six day tour of the Chaco in February 2014. The trip was organised by WLT in partnership with Guyra Paraguay; he was joined by John Burton (WLT CEO) and Dr Iain Barr from the University of East Anglia.

Threats to the Dry Chaco WLT has funded land purchase in the Dry Chaco, creating the Campo Iris Reserve and Tobich Reserve, but the region is critically threatened by the spread of ranching and development and it is a race against time to protect more land before the bulldozers move in.

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Keepers of the Wild Safeguarding all the land that WLT has helped fund is a challenge for our partners and, in 2011, we began raising funds to support reserve rangers through Keepers of the Wild. WLT aims to support around 20 Keepers of the Wild each year. They patrol the reserves to ensure that no hunting or logging is taking place and they may have to deal with hazards such as forest fires and mud slides. They also need clothing, binoculars and tools, and WLT has been able to give some of them digital cameras to record wildlife and any sign of problems.

Spotlight on a ranger Luis Recalde is Head Ranger with Fundación EcoMinga in Ecuador. He has become an accomplished wildlife photographer and has captured animal behaviour that was new to science: an image of a Caecilian attempting to eat a Giant Earthworm was published in BBC Wildlife magazine.

Working with his brother Jesus, he safeguards EcoMinga's nature reserves high in the eastern Andes of Ecuador. Luis and Jesus are supported through Keepers of the Wild and they patrol the reserves daily - an area covering 7,900 acres (3,200 hectares).

During eight hour treks, the brothers come across a rich diversity of animals and plant species – from a Black-and-Chestnut Eagle that whistles above them, to rare orchids, Capuchin Monkeys,

Saddle-backed Tamarins, and Woolly Monkeys. If they are really lucky, they may glimpse a Spectacled Bear within the reserves.

A cause of great excitement is when the rangers spot the tracks of big cats. They would love to see a Jaguar one day. Luis said: “We all want to see the Jaguar because we have seen his tracks and we know he has probably seen us – we want to be even with him!”

Luis photographed this Black-and-chestnut Eagle in Fundación EcoMinga’s Rio Zuñac Reserve.

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Saving real acres and their wildlife the proof camera-traps in action Webcams in the forest

Galo Velez Calderón installs a camera-trap as part of his role as a Fundación Jocotoco ranger in Ecuador. Galo is funded through WLT’s Keepers of the Wild programme.

Camera-traps have revolutionised the way that conservationists study animals in the wild, gaining intimate knowledge of their behaviour and leading to greater scientific knowledge.

WLT receives an increasing number of camera-trap images sent to us by our partners and many can be seen on our website.

Here are just a few examples.

Top left, clockwise: Caucasian Leopard and Syrian Brown Bear, both captured by FPWC in the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, Armenia. A Jaguar in Sierra Gorda, Mexico, captured

by GESG and a male Tiger photographed in the TirunelliKudrakote elephant corridor in Kerala, protected by Wildlife Trust of India. All projects supported by WLT.

Mesmerising moving images of an ever changing array of hummingbirds and other wildlife visiting Fundación Jocotoco’s feeders on the Buenaventura Reserve in south west Ecuador (above).

WLT’s multimedia consultant, Luciano Breves, who lives in Brazil, manages WLT’s webcams on the REGUA and Fundación Jocotoco reserves, as well as his own in southern Brazil (the Ornithos webcam). www.wildlifefocus.org

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Practical action to address climate change Since 2005 WLT’s Carbon Balanced programme has given individuals and companies the opportunity to counteract their unavoidable contribution to global warming by locking away carbon. This is a tried, trusted and transparent programme ensuring that CO2 emissions are addressed while conserving some of the world’s most endangered species and habitats.

This programme is highly effective: more than 16,000 acres (6,475 hectares) of forest in Ecuador and Paraguay have been protected so far and more than 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise have contributed to global warming have been locked away permanently. New projects will protect 123,500 acres (49,980 hectares) more, avoiding an additional 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

I would urge everyone to consider the consequences of daily activities.

Balancing your carbon emissions with the World Land Trust means that we are able to put even more back into our key objectives acquiring land for conservation.

Sir David Attenborough, Patron WLT

WLT is committed to voluntary action WLT is all about voluntary action and over recent years has been developing innovative approaches to addressing climate change with corporate supporters. Swire Pacific Offshore Operations Ltd finances a WLT-led project in Paraguay in partnership with Guyra Paraguay, the Yshir community and small-holders, protecting key areas of threatened habitat in the Chaco and Atlantic Forest. This is a 20-year, independently audited project designed to the highest international standards to offset the company’s unavoidable emissions. At the same time PaperlinX are working with WLT on a new project in Vietnam in partnership with Viet Nature Conservation Centre. This will lock away CO2 emissions generated by the PaperlinX Carbon Balanced paper range by improving protection of seriously threatened lowland forest which harbours some of the rarest animals on the planet.

Meanwhile, a host of individuals and companies large and small aiming to take voluntary action on their greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to the Carbon Balanced projects in Ecuador, conserving over 4,000 acres of forest in eight key sites and locking away over 50,000 tonnes of CO2 in the process.

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Seeing is believing WLT partners encourage supporters to see how their donations are being used For many years some of our partners have been promoting sensitive tourism to showcase their reserves and demonstrate how public support is saving threatened habitats forever. Their small-scale tourism lodges are helping build sustainability for their organisations.

Over the years many WLT supporters - individuals, groups and corporate supporters - have visited reserves, and become among our most committed ambassadors.

The Guapi Assu Bird Lodge, in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil.

The lodge is owned and run by WLT partner, REGUA, who have been offering wonderful walking and wildlife watching in their reserve for several years. The lodge is comfortable, with stunning views across TrĂŞs Picos National Park, and is just 80 kilometres northeast of Rio de Janeiro. REGUA boasts 456 species of birds, 47 species of amphibian and 61 species of mammal including Puma and Southern Woolly Spider Monkey.

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2010 - celebrating WLT’s 21st anniversary A gold medal at Chelsea for the Atlantic Rainforest RHS Chelsea Flower Show, May 2010 WLT recreated a tiny corner of the Atlantic Rainforest of South America in the Great Marquee at Chelsea. We aimed to do justice to the ‘real thing’ and the judges must have thought we succeeded as not only was our exhibit awarded a Gold Medal but we were also selected as Best in Section (Continuous Learning).

Bill Oddie had recently returned from a site visit to see the Atlantic Rainforests of Brazil and Argentina was greatly enthused. He launched the exhibit on Press Day and talked to visitors.

The exhibit featured some 50 Atlantic Rainforest plant species in a realistic rainforest setting. Exhibits in the Ranger’s Hut included products derived from the forest and artefacts made by indigenous groups living in the forest. It featured a plasma screen which appeared as a window into the forest, in much the same way as a bird hide looks to the outside. The webcam, showing high quality webcam streaming from Brazil, brought some of their spectacular birds to Chelsea. The Ranger’s Hut and the ranger garden highlighted the importance of local people who are ultimately responsible for protecting the rainforest reserves being created.

I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art form anybody could ever want to own.

Andy Warhol

Top left: Bill Oddie with workers putting the final touches to the WLT’s exhibit, prior to the Press Day. Below left: The Ranger’s Hut aimed to replicate a typical forest hut with field guides, forest floor objects and local crafts. The live webcam can just be seen. Main picture: The outside ‘rainforest’ garden.

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Saved: land for the people of the Atlantic Rainforest of Argentina Rio+20 Earth Summit, 19 June 2012 The Misiones State Government presented WLT’s project to save the Atlantic Rainforest in Argentina at the Rio+20 Earth Summit, heralding it as a ground-breaking initiative to conserve biodiversity while upholding the traditional rights of indigenous communities.

This was in recognition that three months earlier, WLT facilitated a Multicultural Agreement with three Guaranί communities, their neighbours who were the titleholders of the land, and provincial the government, settling a 16 year dispute over the future of their shared land in Misiones, in north eastern Argentina.

John Burton, WLT’s CEO, said: “The agreement that has been reached is truly ground-breaking and heralded as such by the government of Misiones. In my view, it is probably the most important land purchase the WLT will ever make, because of the innovations involved and the wealth of biodiversity it protects.”

The Multicultural Agreement sees 9,301 acres (3,764 hectares of Atlantic Rainforest designated as a protected nature reserve called Corredor Verde Esmeralda (Emerald Green Corridor), managed for conservation by two Argentinian project partners, in collaboration with the Guaranί communities.

The Emerald Green Corridor project. Top: Looking across the Uruguay River; the new reserve is on the right.

Below: Guaranί communities can now protect their forest homes from being logged and developed, working in partnership with WLT’s local conservation partners, Fundación Biodiversidad Argentina and Fundación Naturaleza para el Futuro.

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Corporate influencers As part of the Elephant Parade, which took place in London in the summer of 2010, WLT collaborated with ethical mining company, Gemfields, to produce one of the most spectacular elephants in the Parade. The ‘Emerald Queen’ wore a headdress featuring a 600 carat emerald and was beautifully decorated in emerald dust by Sabine Roemer. It sold for over £100,000 in the auction to raise funds for WLT’s Elephant Corridor project.

The ‘Emerald Queen’ in Selfridge’s Wonder Room, joined by models wearing the emerald jewellery created especially for auction at the event.

PURO coffee enjoyed by all WLT benefits from the sale of Puro Fairtrade coffee, which is widely available in cafes, pubs and universities.

Puro has been supporting WLT since 2005 and during that time WLT has seen the percentage of sales due to WLT rise from £5,000 to around £100,000 a year.

Land has been saved by Puro in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Malaysian Borneo, Honduras and Peru.

Puro also supports a Keeper of the Wild in Ecuador.

WLT has a Bean-to-Cup machine and ensures that every coffeedrinking visitor to the office tries it for themselves.

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WLT publications are printed BO N AR on Carbon Balanced paper, an initiative of PaperlinX and World Land Trust. PaperlinX UK, collectively the UK’s largest commercial paper merchant, compensates for emissions resulting from Carbon Balanced paper from the production process, from mill to merchant.

With nearly 30 years in the horticulture business, Enterprise Plants have been supporting WLT for 24 of those years. They began with small donations to the Costa Rica project and subsequent support has included sponsoring the WLT’s Gold Medal winning exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. They have sponsored WLT News and donate for Rainforest Planters.

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Thanks to WLT Ambassadors, past and present

With thanks WLT Patrons Sir David Attenborough, David Gower, Chris Packham Hon President: Gerard Bertrand Trustees, 2014 Myles Archibald (Hon Treasurer), Sir Kenneth Carlisle, Rohini Finch (Chair), Simon Lyster, Bruce Pearson, Nigel Simpson, Miranda Stevenson, Andrew von Preussen WLT Council members, 2014 Simon Barnes, Diana Bell, Mark Carwardine, Kevin Cox, Lee Durrell, Willem Ferwerda, Alistair Gammell, Robert Giles, Mark Leaney, Alan Martin, Bill Oddie, Iain Orr, Richard Porter, Elaine Shaughnessy, Mark Stanley Price, Sue Wells

WLT has been running an Internship Programme since 2000 and so far 33 interns have spent six months working in the office. The aim is to improve their skills and give them a better chance of employment. Most WLT's interns have subsequently found employment in conservation or related areas.

We would like to give special thanks to a few people who have given particular help and support over the past 25 years: Albertino Abela, David Bellamy, Bruce Coleman, Gil Child, Mark Gruin, Grenville Lucas, the late Chris Parsons, David Pedley, Sir Ghillean Prance, David Tate, Pete Wilkinson and Nigel Winser, and many others too numerous to list.

Diane Abela David Back Nick Baker David Bebber Emma Beckett Nick Brown John Bullivant Rosie Cate Nick Caunter Field Marshall Sir John Chapple Sophie Chong Nicola Davies

Robert Finch Jo Finch Dan Freeman Jo Gipps Alex Gregory-Peake Anna Haber Tony Hawks Su Ingle Chris Jenkin Bethan John Dominic Jones Jonny Lu Sir Michael Marshall

Bill Oddie Renton Righelato Chris Roche Jonathan Self Lewis Smith Mark Sparrow Andrew Squire Ashleigh Stirling S J Teasdale Emma Tozer Kristina Turner

Green Ink In 1995 WLT launched Authors and Artists for Conservation, which later became Green Ink. This scheme encourages writers and illustrators with books in public libraries to donate the Public Lending Rights in their books. With the help of former WLT Trustee, Jonathan Self, this project raises several thousands of pounds every year for the Trust and involves over 200 authors and artists from all genres. Members of Green ink include Prue Leith, Tony Hawks, Simon Barnes and Antonio Carluccio, as well as the Trust’s Patrons, Sir David Attenborough, David Gower and Chris Packham.

Award winning author and journalist, Simon Barnes is a WLT Council member and has, over the years, raised thousands of pounds for World Land Trust projects. Simon has visited many WLT project areas and regularly brings wide attention to WLT’s land purchase and protection issues through his columns in The Times.

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World Land Trust Blyth House, Bridge Street Halesworth, Suffolk IP19 8AB, UK Tel: 01986 874422 Email: info@worldlandtrust.org

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