World Land Trust (WLT), the international conservation charity, has announced the successful protection of over 88,700 acres of land in 12 months since June 2013, as a result of raising funds to safeguard wildlife corridors and extend existing reserves. 

The impressive figures were announced during World Land Trust's Annual General Meeting held in Suffolk last month, during which The Trust announced another landmark achievement of one million pounds raised in less than a year to save the rainforest home of Orang-utans. The funds are being used to purchase strategically important parcels of forest in order to create the Keruak Corridor in the Bornean rainforest, ensuring that wildlife does not become isolated in forest fragments. 

In addition to the work carried out in Borneo, World Land Trust has also saved acres in several Latin American countries during the last 12 months, including Bolivia and Mexico. In Bolivia's Beni Savanna, World Land Trust funding has helped double the size of Barba Azul Nature Reserve, home to the critically endangered Blue-throated Macaw. In central Mexico, funds were used to extend a network of nature reserves in Sierra Gorda, an extraordinarily biodiverse area home to all six species of wild cat found in Mexico, including Jaguar, Puma and Ocelot. 

Sir David Attenborough, Patron of World Land Trust since 1989 commented, “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. The support that is given to the World Land Trust is support that goes directly to the place where it's needed.” 

Founded in 1989, World Land Trust is currently celebrating 25 years of successfully protecting the world's most biologically important and threatened habitats. An essential part of World Land Trust's philosophy is to work through local conservation groups, and to help build their capacity so that they are better able to protect the wildlife in their countries and the habitats on which they depend.

For more information on World Land Trust, visit www.worldlandtrust.org 

 [ENDS]

For more information please contact:

McCluskey International 

Judy McCluskey / Sarah Salord / Jessica Meins

T: 020 8747 2170

E: worldlandtrust@mccluskey.co.uk 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 About World Land Trust (WLT)

World Land Trust (WLT) is an international conservation charity, which protects the world's most biologically important and threatened habitats acre by acre. Since its foundation in 1989, WLT has funded partner organisations around the world to create reserves, and give permanent protection to habitats and wildlife. The mission of the World Land Trust is: To protect and sustainably manage natural ecosystems of the world; To conserve their biodiversity, with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species; To develop partnerships with local individuals, communities and organisations to engage support and commitment among the people who live in project areas; To raise awareness, in the UK and elsewhere, of the need for conservation, to improve understanding and generate support through education, information and fundraising.