74th World Land Trust Council Meeting

Friday 8th May 2009

Ninteenth Annual General Meeting

1. DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR 2008
   The draft annual report and accounts for 2008 were presented to the AGM and approved.
2. CHANGES TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
   Renton Righelato and Jane Krish retired as Trustees at this meeting.

   Dr Gerard Bertrand was re-elected as Honorary President.

   Mark Leaney was  re-elected as Honorary Treasurer.

   The following were elected as new Trustees:
   Sir Kenneth Carlisle            
   Gil Child
   Bruce Pearson
   Jonathan Self

3. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITORS
   Lovewell Blake were re-appointed as Auditors.
4. COMPANY SECRETARY
   John Burton was appointed Company Secretary.

Seventy-fourth Council Meeting

1. Election of Chairman and Deputy Chair of Trustees Meeting
   Following the retirement at the AGM of Renton Righelato, Albertino Abela was elected the new Chairman of Trustees, and Rohini Finch as Vice Chair.
2. Appointment and re-election of Council Members
   Alistair Gammell and Mark Stanley Price were appointed as Council Members.  Council Members whose term was due to expire during the current year were re-appointed.

   Details of WLT's Board of Trustees and Council can be found at on the "about WLT" page.

3. Development & Impact of Recession
   In contrast to the difficulties reported by many other charities, WLT had seen little evidence of any great impact of the recession on income. Fundraising costs and general overheads were under control. Overall the financial situation was holding up well, but was being kept under review.

   It was noted that income from WLT Partners and via the Internet was still increasing, and showing gains above the same period for the previous year.

   In spite of economic pressures existing corporate supporters were maintaining their commitments, and new companies were still coming forward.

4. Anniversary Events
   Recent successful events marking WLT's 20th Anniversary were highlighted:
   
   • The Great Ape Debate held at the Linnean Society on 30 April and chaired by Lord Cranbrook had been a great success. Live streaming of the Debate on the WLT website was a first [a video of the Debate is now available at on the Great Ape Debate event page]. A further larger-scale event is planned for November to carry the debate forward: details will be available on the WLT website in due course.
   • An event for Trust supporters in the South-west, hosted by Bristol Zoo, took place in April, with the keynote speech by Sir David Attenborough [a transcript of Sir David's talk can be found at on Sir David Attenborough's testimonials page].
5. Conservation Activities
   
   • Kinangop Grasslands Project, Kenya: Formal approval was given to a proposal to support Nature Kenya in the purchase of 50 acres of strategically important grassland, stronghold of the Sharpe's Longclaw, a seriously threatened bird species endemic to Kenya.
   • Venezuela: A brief report was given on the recent field trip by 3 WLT/UEA Diploma students to Venezuela, where they undertook research projects with project partners Provita.