New appeal from the World Land Trust in South Africa
The World Land Trust is an amazing charity. It is based in the UK but it helps conservation partners all over the world. Founded in 1984, it works to "protect the world's most biologically significant and threatened habitats". Since it was founded in 1984, it has funded the protection of 2,835,984 acres and co-funded the protection of 3,290,151 more. Its vision is "to protect the world’s most threatened habitats and species for the future" and its mission is "helping people across the world protect and restore their land to safeguard biodiversity and the climate."
Protecting nature and wildlife
The World Land Trust works with partner organisations and it funds the purchase or lease of threatened land to create nature reserves. This protects wildlife and, crucially, the habitats where the wildlife are. The land is purchased and protected and managed by these local partner organisations or communities. The video (right) shows the successful Big Match Fortnight appeal from 2023, which was for Columbia. You can see where the World Land Trust works here.
You can support the World Land Trust in several ways:
Its Keepers of the Wild supports many of our partner organisations to employ local men and women as rangers, right in the frontline of conservation. The rangers may undertake tasks such as patrolling (so that they can check for illegal activities such as logging and hunting), they may monitor species, help researchers, work with local communities and guide visitors.
They have a Plant a Tree appeal, helping local communities to establish tree nurseries
They have a Carbon Balanced programme, so that you can work out your carbon footprint and take steps to off-set it with the World Land Trust, funding the protection of forests which store carbon dioxide
They have a Buy An Acre programme, which means you and I can help the Trust protect land, acre by acre - habitat loss is the gravest threat facing our wonderful wildlife. For every £100 donation to this programme, an overseas partner can buy an acre of habitat and protect it - you don't have to give £100, by the way.
In late April 2024, the World Land Trust has just announced its new very exciting appeal! It's called Connecting Ukuwela, and it's looking to raise £100,000 needed to help its partner Wild Tomorrow buy an important piece of land to help open up the wild lands of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal. The purchase will help form a wildlife corridor so that wildlife can mix freely and relieve vegetation from overgrazing. It will be a lifeline for animals such as the African Savanna Elephant, the frican Lion nad the Critically Endangered Black Rhino.
The appeal will give nature a space to thrive - over 1,200 species will benefit. The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve is a Critical Biodiveristy Area, with a Subtropical Freshwater Wetland, Western Maputaland CLay Bushfeld and Dry Sand Forest. Wild Tomorrow provide sustainable livelihoods to its rangers and the Green Mambas, local women who maintain the reserve and lead restoration activities.
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