Diary style blog by John Burton, CEO of the World Land Trust about what WLT has to do to achieve conservation, as it actually happens.

Green Diary

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010:

Air Chaos: Conservation problems 

The volcanic eruption in Iceland is the sort of disaster I have written about and blogged about many times over the past decade. I have suggested that a major volcanic eruption could cause world wide catastrophic impacts on a scale that is almost unimaginable. It could be the factor that stops the alarming escalation of human populations. And this one in Iceland is tiny. But it has caused huge economic devastation.

As an example, our partner organisation in Brazil (REGUA), is suffering significant economic losses. A group of nine people representing the Zoos and Aquariums that have been supporting land purchase by REGUA, have had to cancel their visit. This represents a loss of over $8000 of income, from accommodation fees. And they were not the only guests from Europe booked over the next few weeks. I am scheduled to take Bill Oddie to the Atlantic Rainforest next week, as part of our PR and publicity for WLT's Chelsea Flower Show Exhibit, and if this visit is cancelled that too will impact REGUA, as our partners are always paid for services they provide, including to WLT staff.

There are certainly powerful arguments in favour of less air travel, but as conservationists, we know only too well that tourism plays an absolutely vital role in maintaining some of the world's most important habitats and species. Without tourist income, where would Mountain Gorillas be now? I can tell you: Extinct.

The World Land Trust needs to support its partners more urgently than ever in this time of crisis. Nature may be fighting back, as some commentators have described the volcano, but nature still needs your support.

Posted by John Tuesday, April 20, 2010
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010:

Charities and size: Is small beautiful? 

This week's Third Sector magazine has an interesting report on how the public perceive the differences between large and small charities. Large charities are seen to be significantly more 'professional', but also much more wasteful of funds, while small charities are seen to be much more amateurish in their approach than the large ones, and significantly more 'trustworthy'.

Quite how the World Land Trust would fit I am not sure, as we are on the cusp between large and small charities. For the first 20 years of existence we were certainly within the 'small' classification, and perceived as less wasteful etc., but now we are rapidly approaching the size of a 'large charity'. I sincerely hope that because of the way we have grown and developed, we can get the economies of scale only available to a large charity, but hang on to the ethos of a small charity, for example by remaining prudent in how much printed material we distribute and rejecting the use of direct mail or street fundraising - activities associated with larger charities.

Small is certainly beautiful in many ways, but my experience has been that contrary to what many of the public think, below a certain size, many charities are actually relatively inefficient. For example, I often wonder how on earth a small charity complies with all the laws, rules, and guidelines these day. In fact I strongly suspect that many do not. There is such a plethora of rules that I would argue that with a staff of less than about 10 people (so that at least one person works part time on health & safety, data protection and related rules, and someone else looks after all the fiscal rules) it is impossible.

The growth of the WLT over the last few years has been possible thanks to the broad supporter base the Trust has always had - which encourages donations from corporates, who want to see that the charity is attracting support from the public. Whilst donations from individuals buying acres and supporting our appeals are used for just that; land purchase and protection, corporate support enables the Trust to also invest in developing the infrastructure of the organisation itself.

We now have staff who dedicate some of their time to making sure the Trust follows the relevant charity laws and guidelines, freeing up time for other staff to focus on what they do best: Developing and administering the projects the Trust supports, liaising with corporate and individual supporters and communicating project achievements and needs. There is no doubt that our operations are significantly more efficient with this staff structure than a few years ago when the WLT consisted of less than 10 full time employees.

Every new WLT supporter who donates (whether a single donation or a regular direct debit donation) encourages more corporate support and therefore directly ensures that the Trust's operations remain cost-effective.

What are your views on large and small charities? Does size matter?

Posted by John Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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Friday, April 09, 2010:

Land inflation continues 

Our newsletter went out to supporters just before Easter, and the response has been very encouraging, with donations flowing in (the latest newsletter is also available on our website in pdf (1.66Mb, opens in new window)).

The World Land Trust support continues to grow, with both individual supporters and also corporate support gathering momentum all the time. That is the really good news. The bad news is that land prices are rising dramatically almost everywhere. One of the driving forces for this is the demand for so-called green energy. Bio fuels are taking up more and more land, which in turn increases pressure on traditionally agricultural land, or forests which can be replaced with oil-palm, sugar or other biofuels.

In Paraguay ranching is displacing vast tracts of one of the last undisturbed wildernesses in the world. For short-term gain, the fragile ecosystems of the Gran Chaco are being converted to poor quality pasture, which in many cases will turn to desert in less than a decade. But the economics work -- land is cheap, the capital investment needed will be repaid very quickly -- and if it is a dustbowl in a few years time, who cares?

Buying land is not nearly as easy as it sounds. We have to have the money in hand before our partners can start negotiating. Fortunately, due to the generosity of one of our donors we now have a 'revolving fund' which we can use to make downpayments while we raise funds. But the more funds we have in hand, the more land we can buy. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, and the surest way of saving biodiversity (as our Patron Sir David Attenborough points out on our website) is to acquire large tracts of land.

The obvious conclusion is that the WLT's contribution to biodiversity is very real and very tangible. But is does rely on as much support as possible, from all possible sources. Waiting for governments to do something is not an option.

Posted by John Friday, April 09, 2010
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