SUCCESS:  The World Land Trust's Big Match Fortnight appeal Life on the Edge!!  

The Life of the Edge appeal which was launched in October 2022  has reached its £1,430,000 target!

Everyone who donated has enabled the World Land Trust's partner  – Foundación EcoMinga – to DOUBLE the size of the Anzu and Zúñac reserves in Ecuador’s upper Río Pastaza watershed.

Well done to everyone who donated, and huge thanks to those who tripled our donations!  We've done it!

Read all about it HERE

Here's the background:

The World Land Trust is an amazing charity based in the UK, (HQ in Suffolk).  It focuses specifically on conserving threatened habitats and it does this through raising funds for land purchase.  It goes down this route with considerable care, and the land is purchased, protected and managed by local partner organisations. Thus is has the ability to respond swiftly when lands are under threat of destruction.

So far, the World Land Trust has protected 2,409,420 acres, and planted 2,457,900 trees.   It works in countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, the UK, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Paraguay, India, Guatemala – and lots more!  View their projects here

It raises some of these funds through a Buy an Acre scheme – a £100 donation can buy an acre of land and protect it for wildlife in perpetuity.  You can also donate (one off or monthly) to the Action Fund which is used to for funds to enable the Trust to respond fast where action is needed, be it to extend and safeguard existing reserves or fight fires, or make sure that the reserves are protected by experienced rangers.

Every year, the World Land Trust has a huge appeal in the autumn.  It's called Big Match Fortnight...and as I type, the project has raised 83% of the funds needed!

All about the Big Match Fortnight 2022

In 2022, this appeal is a real opportunity to save Ecuador’s incredible Río Anzu and Río Zúñac forests!   Threats are emerging all the time including proposed oil extraction projects and the conversion to crops – e.g. balsa wood.

Please donate to the Life on the Edge Appeal
The fund match has closed - it ran from 12th to 26 October 2022 -
but the appeal still needs help and support!

We need to buy these habitats to protect them.  Let conservation be the victor here, not extraction and destruction

With the help from the new £1,430,000 campaign, Life on the Edge, Fundación EcoMinga wants to expand the reserves in the Andean valleys. 

Black and chestnut Eagles, Spectacled bears, jaguars and Mountain tapirs will all feel the benefits, along with frog species and orchids.  New species of trees (including two Magnolia species) and several new frog species have been discovered.

Life on the Edge: 5 fun facts about the wildlife you can save with our new appeal

Fundación EcoMinga have a plan:

Donations to the Life on the Edge appeal will enable the protection of 1,086 ha – that’s 2,683 acres – which will be split between 586 ha at Río Anzu and and 500 ha Río Zúñac

The donations will fund the expansion of TWO reserves in a tropical watershed, where nearly 100 species have been discovered in less than 20 years, and nearly all of them found nowhere else on earth.  The appeal will connect the two reserves through a national park.  It will help wildlife roaming and lots of EDGE species – that’s those who are Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered.

It's in Ecuador and it will help species
such as this Spectacled Bear.

Along with donations from EcoMinga’sother supporters, the World Land Trust’s partner will be able to safeguard 5,1234 acres across both reserves.  This is enough to save over half of the unprotected forests left in the area.  The habitats will be patrolled by the World Land Trust funded Keepers of the Wild.  And – very exciting – they will be linked to a 1.6 MILLION hectare protected network.  That’s incredible!

Together we can all make this happen.  Every single donation will make a difference.

The wildlife need us.   Please let’s take action and donate and/or spread the word!

Last year....Big Match Fortnight 2021

In 2021, the Trust aimed to raise £1.2 million for the Guardians of Nimla Ha’ – one of their most ambitious appeals to date.  An incredible £1.37 million was raised which enabled the Trust’s partner in Guatemala, FUNDAECO, to complete the purchase to TRIPLE the size of their Laguna Grande Reserve, home to over 700 species.  Manatees, ocelots, 357 bird species, primates, Jaguars, Margays will all be much safer thanks to this purchase.   The reserve tripled in size from 1,668 to nearly 5,000 acres.   And it’s because we all pulled together to respond to this appeal by donating. Every bit counted.  Find out more about the Guardians of Nimla ‘Ha appeal here.

As a historic first for the World Land Trust's Big Match Fortnight...

Whatever you give to save this habitat was TRIPLED during Big Match Fortnight (that’s the 12^th October through to the 26^th October 2022).  This is all thanks to the amazing pledges of some of the World Land Trust’s supporters and the appeal now stands at 75% - just 25% to go!  The fund match has closed now but you can still donate to this vital appeal.

Please donate here

We can act as individuals by donating and spreading the word and being a part of a something really important and terrific.  By pulling together, we can power through this appeal and help protect wildlife.

Visit the World Land Trust’s website for updates and to donate