International conservation charity, the World Land Trust (WLT) is set to embrace the challenges of 2011 as the United Nations declares it the official International Year of Forests.
Twenty two years ago, the World Land Trust pioneered the new approach to conservation by funding land purchase as an effective and immediate means of protecting critically endangered habitats, where threat is imminent and wildlife is about to be lost. This model is supported by leading conservation organisations and environmentalists, including WLT’s patron, Sir David Attenborough, who says ‘WLT’s policy of buying lands is the most direct and certain road to conservation. It deserves the support of all who care about the survival of the wild places of the world’. To date, WLT has saved over 500,000 acres of endangered habitats all over the world but does not own any of the land it saves; the ownership is vested in carefully selected NGOs operating in these regions, who take on the responsibility of protecting the land in perpetuity.
In 2011, WLT face a new set of challenges. Official figures from the UN tell us that the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people directly depend on forests, yet approximately 130,00km² are lost each year due to deforestation. With this in mind, WLT have launched their ‘Keepers of the Wild’ Ranger programme which will put more rangers in the field to protect the forest reserves that have been created. Rangers are employed from the local communities which encourages education on conservation through employment.
Through their loyal donor base and established corporate supporters such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Body Shop and Calypso Soft Drinks, WLT have been incredibly successful in raising funds for land purchase. However, raising funds to employ Rangers will be significantly more challenging. WLT welcomes the UN International Year of Forests and will rise to the challenge and play its part in re-establishing the relationship between people and forests in a sustainable way that helps both livelihoods and wildlife.
For more information please contact Emma Beckett or Sophie Chong at Emma Beckett PR on:
Tel: 0207 637 2967 or email: emma*AT*emmabeckettpr.com (To prevent spam we cannot show the email address in full. Please replace *AT* with @ in your email TO field.)
Full Press release: http://www.worldlandtrust.org/documents/international-year-of-forests-pr.pdf (91KB) (opens in new window)