Dr. G A Bertrand (USA)

With over 30 years' experience in environmental science and conservation Jerry Bertrand's primary interest has always revolved around the preservation of habitat and species. Former Executive President of Massachusetts Audubon Society, former Chairman of BirdLife International and current Vice President, Jerry is currently a member on the board of the World Land Trust-US and the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Trust (BART).

Chairman of the Trustees:

Albertino Abela (UK & Lebanon)

An international businessman, working mostly in airline catering. Lebanese by birth, Albertino has lived in England most of his life, and was inspired by wildlife from an early age. He helped fund the purchase of the Ranch of Hopes (Estancia la Esperanza), and also funded a video about the ranch. In addition to his support for the work of the World Land Trust, he has also funded conservation activities in Lebanon.

Sir Kenneth Carlisle (UK)

A trained barrister and formerly Member of Parliament, has run his family farm in Suffolk (pdf link) for 35 years, during which he has built a diverse and successful business, including award-wining vineyard, restaurant and shop, while maintaining the conservation and sustainable management of his farm and 170 acres of ancient woodland as guiding principles. Was on the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society; currently vice-chairman of Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Gil Child (UK)  

Born and raised in East Africa, he first worked as a government Game Ranger.  Later he participated in the establishment of the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, Tanzania.  Joined the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) field staff in 1969 as a Wildlife Officer and later FAO Regional Wildlife and National Parks Officer for Africa based at Accra, Ghana.  After this, became Senior Officer (Wildlife and Protected Area Management) in the Forest Resources Division of FAO in Rome, where he formulated, supported and made field visits to projects in many parts of the developing world and was Secretary to the FAO African Working Party on Wildlife Management and National Parks. On retirement in 1992 he undertook consultancies for various organizations.

Rohini Finch (UK)

Rohini has an Engineering background and also an MBA from the London Business School. Much of her career was spent as an Oil Trader in the City. She now spends her time on Charity work and is a trustee with the Generations charitable trust, which has funded land purchase as part of the GUYRA Paraguay project.

Dr. Simon Lyster (UK)

Simon is a lawyer by background (qualified in both the UK and United States). He has always been passionate about wildlife and has worked for environmental organisations for most of his professional life. He worked for WWF for ten years and went on to become Director General of the Wildlife Trusts, one of the largest conservation organisations in the UK. He is now Chief Executive of LEAD International (Leadership in Environment and Development) and on the Board of several wildlife conservation charities. Simon is a regular visitor to Brazil. His wife is Brazilian and runs conservation programmes for WWF-UK.

Bruce Pearson (UK)  

One of Britain's best known wildlife artists, Bruce was President of the Society of Wildlife Artists for 10 years. He was the illustrator of Rare Mammals of the World (written by John & Vivien Burton) published in 1987, and has been a supporter of Green Ink since its inception. Bruce regularly donates original artwork for the WLT to sell, to raise funds for its projects.

Visit Bruce Pearson's website

Jonathan Self (UK)  

Jonathan Self is an author and journalist. He writes on a wide range of subjects including farming and the environment for, amongst other publications, Country Life and the Times. His early career was spent in advertising and he uses this experience to do pro-bono fundraising and pr work for various non-profit organisations.

Dr. Nigel Simpson (UK)

Nigel Simpson is a professional chemist who specialises in materials science and ophthalmology. With a lifelong interest in natural history, he has been active in conservation in the Gloucestershire Wye Valley since 1970, and was a co-founder of Fundación Jocotoco established in 1998 and founder of The Simpson Education and Conservation Trust (SECT). As well as being a WLT Trustee Nigel is is also a member of the boards of Fundación Jocotoco and Fundación Ecominga and was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005, for his "services to environmental conservation and the local communities in Ecuador".

Mark Leaney (UK)

Mark is finance director and co owner of Discover the World tour operator specialising in destinations like Iceland, New Zealand, Namibia, and the Arctic and Antarctic regions. He is an accountant by profession and has had previous Hon. Treasurer roles with The Association of Independent Tour Operators and The Diamond Centre for Handicapped Riders.