The World Land Trust eBulletin Issue 16, March 2004

In this issue:
Belize update: Jaguar Cars fund research at the Rio Bravo
Patagonia update: Woollies for sale – a bid for Sustainable Development
New Diploma Course in Conservation and Project Administration
Get a chocolate Easter treat when you save an acre
'Food for Conservation' to raise money for WLT projects
Help the WLT grow – tell your friends about us!

Belize update: Jaguar Cars fund research at the Rio Bravo

The Jaguar is one of many animals found in Belize forests. Thanks to its namesake Jaguar Cars, studies of other Belizean wildlife are underway.

For the second year running, MSc students from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, are braving the forests of Belize in the name of research. Funded by Jaguar Cars, and supported by the World Land Trust and Programme for Belize, the two students will be looking into two very different, but equally important issues which will contribute to the management of the reserve.

Sarah Nash will be researching the “Nesting preferences and foraging ecology of the Yellow-headed Amazon parrot”, whilst husband Cory will be conducting an “Assessment of Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area’s Ecotourism Impacts on Selected Bordering Communities”.

Both research projects will be carried out in and around the Programme for Belize flagship reserve, the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, a reserve that covers over 250,000 acres of tropical forest and was purchased with funds raised by the World Land Trust and other organisations.

Last year Juan Carlos Ruiz Guajardo, originally from Mexico, looked at the “Effects of Selective Logging on the Relative Abundance and Distribution of Vertebrate Species in the Rio Bravo”. An abstract of this study is available to read on the WLT website.

Read a summary of Juan Carlos Ruiz Guajardo's research project
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/thesis-abstract.htm

Read more about WLT's project in Belize
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/belize.htm

Detail of the exhibition, showing wollen scarves produced in Patagonia.

Patagonia update: Woollies for sale – a bid for Sustainable Development 

Made from high quality, organic merino wool, and coloured with natural plant dyes found on Estancia La Esperanza, a range of woven clothing and accessories are being produced to fund conservation. The wool comes from sheep living free range on the World Land Trust funded reserve in Patagonia, in numbers that will not harm the delicate Steppe ecosystem.

It is intended that the sale of these woollen products will generate a sustainable source of funds to be invested back into the reserve, reducing dependence on external support. Financial independence is a priority for all WLT projects, and is being carried out through a variety of means, including sustainable forestry, ecotourism and the sale of non-timber forest products. WLT believes that self-reliance is essential if conservation projects are going to be successful in the long term.

The Patagonian “Woollies”, which include ponchos, scarves and bags, are currently being exhibited and sold in Focus Organics, a shop in Halesworth, where the WLT is based.

Read more about Estancia La Esperanza – WLT’s reserve in Patagonia
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/patagonia.htm

Make a donation to the Patagonia project
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/supporting/donation.htm

New Diploma course in Conservation and Project Administration

Over the past two years WLT has been developing an extremely successful Intern programme offering opportunities for training in project management, office administration and publication production for post graduates. Following the success of this programme the WLT is collaborating with the University of East Anglia (UEA) to create a new diploma course in Conservation and Project Administration.

This unique course will provide students with the essential mix of theoretical teaching, as well as the practical management experience of working with an international charity - a combination designed to equip the ‘conservationists of tomorrow’.

The diploma course is planned to start in Autumn 2004, and full details will appear soon on the UEA website. For further information, please contact Projects Co-ordinator, Kirsty Burgess at

Get a chocolate Easter treat when you save an acre

Organic, fairtrade, delicious and yours when you save an acre.

What would Easter be like without some chocolate treats? The World Land Trust is giving you an opportunity to save a piece of tropical rainforest, steppe or elephant habitat and sample some of the world's finest organic Fairtrade chocolate at the same time.

Green & Black's are donating a 20g chocolate bar to every WLT supporter who gives £25 or more to one or more of our Big 3 projects: elephant corridor in India, Patagonian steppe in Argentina and tropical rainforest in Ecuador. What's more, if your donation is a gift we will send you two bars - one for you and one for your gift recipient.

Green & Black's have been producing high quality Fairtrade chocolate since 1994. The delicious Maya Gold bar is made from dark chocolate and flavoured with orange and spices. It is produced from cocoa grown in the shade of tropical forest trees in Belize, where, working with local Maya communities, Green & Black's are helping save tropical forest and ensuring a good price for cocoa for the communities they support.

To take advantage of this offer, make a donation to our projects in India, Argentina or Ecuador between 29th March and 23rd April.

Make a donation of £25 and get an Easter chocolate treat
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/supporting/donation.htm

'Food for Conservation' to raise money for WLT projects 

A recipe competition was launched in January inviting supporters to send us recipes from World Land Trust project countries. Recipes that were sent in will be used during the WLT’s Food for Conservation week taking place in April in Suffolk, UK. Congratulations to the competition winner, Jamie Gallant, who received a beautiful signed print by Bruce Pearson of Bowhead Whales.

Hosted by Warner’s Wine Bar in Halesworth, Food for Conservation will provide a different dish from each of the WLT’s project countries everyday between the 19th and 24th April, with the Friday and Saturday evenings featuring a full exotic menu. Proceeds from these dishes will go to the WLT’s projects, protecting threatened habitats and wildlife.

Help the WLT grow – tell your friends about us!

The World Land Trust, like any good charity keeps its admin costs to a minimum, but we need to grow over the next year or so if we are to remain cost effective. And that is where you, the readers of this Bulletin come in. Can you spread the word? We don't want to waste valuable resources on expensive advertising campaigns, and consequently the most cost effective way of spreading the message is by word of mouth. And in the 21st century, this means by email too. So please, if you like what we are doing, tell others about us.