World Land Trust

World Land Trust came into being in 1989 when the Programme for Belize was launched to raise money to privately buy land in Belize to protect tropical rain forests. The core of the trust was a $10,000 start up donation from the Massachusetts Audubon Society to John Burton, for the purposes of setting up an office in the United Kingdom for the trust. Initial appeals were made in the BBC Wildlife magazine and were followed up with support from noted naturalists Gerald Durrell and his wife Lee Durrell. The Trust has since developed to help purchase and conserve land in over 20 countries worldwide[3] and now has an annual income of over £4.4 million to fund land purchase and conservation in 2019.[4]

The Trust has maintained its links with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust; Lee Durrell remains a key supporter.[5] The Trust's patrons are Sir David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, Chris Packham, and David Gower.[6] Other high-profile supporters of the Trust are Bill Oddie, Tony Hawks, Mark Carwardine, and Nick Baker.[7][8]

A partner organization, World Land Trust - US (formerly World Parks Endowment) was also created in 1989. In 2013 it officially became Rainforest Trust, following a decision by its board that a different name would better reflect its aims and objectives.

In 2014, the World Land Trust held its second open debate in London.[9] It tackled the impact of sport hunting on wildlife and conservation. Attending conservationists included Chris Packham, Bill Oddie, Mark Avery and Andrew Gilruth.[10]

Projects include:[11]

• Misiones Rainforest Corridor in Argentina, working with Fundación Biodiversidad-Argentina and Fundación Naturaleza para el Futuro
• Coastal Steppe Project in Patagonia, Argentina, working with Fundacion Patagonia Natural
• Yungas Cloud Forests of El Pantanoso in Argentina, working with Fundación Biodiversidad-Argentina
• The Caucasus in Armenia, working with Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets
• Programme for Belize, protecting broadleaf forest, palm savannah and freshwater lagoons of the Rio Bravo, working with Programme for Belize
• Beni Savanna in Barba Azul Nature Reserve, Bolivia, working with Asociación Armonía.
• Atlantic Rainforest conservation in Brazil working with Reserva Ecológica Guapiaçu[12].
• Chocó and other threatened Forest in Colombia with Fundación ProAves
• Tropical Forest Conservation in Ecuador, working with Fundacion Jocotoco, Fundacion EcoMinga and Pro Bosques. Also, Tumbesian Lowland Dry Forest, Andean Mountain Forest and Wet Chocó conservation, funded through the Carbon Balanced programme.
• Tropical forest and wetland in Caribbean Guatemala, working with Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación
• Tropical forest cloud forest in western Honduras, working with Asociación Ecológica de San Marcos de Ocotepeque
• Indian Elephant Corridors in India, working with Wildlife Trust of India
• Deserts of central Iran, working with Iranian Cheetah Society
• Kenyan Grasslands in the Kinangop Highlands of Kenya with Nature Kenya
• Borneo Rainforest, creating Orang-utan corridors in Malaysian Borneo with LEAP and Hutan. The trust raised £1 million to purchase a corridor of land to connect two protected areas of rainforest.[13]
• Protecting the Biodiversity of the Sierra Gorda in Mexico with Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda
• Saving the Paraguayan Wilderness in the Dry Chaco, Chaco- Pantanal and Atlantic Forest in Paraguay, with Guyra Paraguay
• Cloud Forests and Paramó Grasslands in northern Peru, supporting local communities, working with Naturaleza y Cultura Peru
• Philippine Reef & Rainforest Project, Danjugan Island, working with the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation.
• Kites Hill Reserve, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, which was donated to the Trust and is managed as a nature reserve
• Dry Forests of Margarita Island off the north-eastern coast of Venezuela, working with Asociación Civil Provita
• Annamite Lowland Forest in north-central Vietnam, working with Viet Nature Conservation Centre (VNCC), funded through the Carbon Balanced Programme
• Keepers of the Wild, supporting rangers to protect some of the most threatened habitats and wildlife on Earth
• Plant a Tree, to restore forests lost prior to purchase or to reconnect areas of forest habitat. Tree planting areas include Brazil, through Reserva Ecológica de Guapi Assu and in Ecuador with Fundación Jocotoco.
• Jungle for Jaguars, a recent campaign by the World Land Trust and local partner in Belize, Corozal Sustainable Future Initiative (CSFI)[14]