tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38051392010-02-28T10:02:17.511ZDiary style blog by John Burton, CEO of the World Land Trust about what WLT has to do to achieve conservation, as it actually happens.Helena Akerlundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749803698478075213noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-90160123321209256502010-02-23T14:35:00.000Z2010-02-23T14:35:24.453Z

Over the weekend I happened to finish reading a book about the Amber Room in St Petersburg. This priceless 'lost' treasure has been re-created at a cost of millions of dollars. And it set me thinking about the annual turnover of works of art and the millions and millions of dollars, pound, yen, euros etc invested. And yet these works of man (and woman) in many cases are not even unique. Rodin

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-40981457716065455322010-02-16T12:02:00.002Z2010-02-16T13:12:30.534Z

This week's Third Sector Magazine (the charity world's trade press) carries a feature entitled 'Should charities employ their own chuggers instead of using agencies?'. For those of you who don't know, a 'chugger' is a 'charity mugger' -- the people who stop you in the street and ask you to sign up to support a charity. Often operating in well-to-do areas they rely on people being embarrassed into

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-86238040085587960132010-02-12T17:39:00.003Z2010-02-12T21:21:40.361Z

I have just returned from a week in the Atlantic rainforests of South America. I was there with some very specific objectives: I was taking Michela Delle Donne, who represented Eurojersey Spa, an Italian producer of a warp-knit fabrics, along with a Brazilian wildlife film-maker, Luciano Breves - who is also an expert on all things related to webcams. (His Brazilian wildlife webcam can be seen

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-68240219054395649182010-02-02T11:35:00.003Z2010-02-02T11:43:03.152Z

At the WLT we have seen a sudden surge in donations and several of our new donors have mentioned that they have seen the blockbuster film Avatar, and wanted to do something to help the environment. So I decided I had better go and see the film, and what it was all about.Most of my life I have been a bit of a film buff, though in recent years I rarely actually get to a cinema. And I am also fairly

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-64546453511415167272010-01-29T10:36:00.000Z2010-01-29T10:38:09.716Z

This morning I got an email from Anne Herngaard in Denmark, which I have copied below, as it seems a good idea, and is self explanatory, and I would like to encourage my readers to check it out.I am just writing to let you know of a campaign called 'I do 30' that may be of interest to your blog. During the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, our world leaders failed in making a climate

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-69130501163954237292010-01-25T16:20:00.004Z2010-01-25T16:20:00.353Z

Reading the charity trade press, it is interesting to note that one factor that is having a major impact on many of the larger charities is the low interest rates. While low interest rates does have an impact on the World Land Trust, it is nothing like as significant as the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar. This is because most of our funds are raised in pounds, but spent in

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-90949382499031835622010-01-22T15:22:00.001Z2010-01-22T15:23:45.217Z

The problems continue in the Chaco of Paraguay. Deforestation continues, and our partners are seriously under-resourced. Yesterday I had a letter from Jose Luis Casaccia, the former Minister of the Environment of Paraguay, thanking the World Land Trust for organising a visit to England last year, when he was able to give a presentation to members of parliament, in the House of Commons. But

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-37380164670184792072010-01-11T10:01:00.000Z2010-01-11T10:02:10.732Z

The big freeze this week in England has, of course, got many people questioning the occurrence of global warming. Which is precisely why we don't use that phrase. It's climate change.I have written elsewhere about it (for Suffolk Wildlife Trust), but climate change can definitely mean that Britain could end up with a more continental climate. Or the Gulf Stream could shut off, in which case we

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-28062917568159666642009-12-31T12:13:00.000Z2009-12-31T12:14:30.698Z

As the year end approaches I am looking back over what at first sight seems a very successful year. Certainly we have raised more funds than ever before. We have extended our network of partner organisation and we have helped them buy and protect thousands of acres of land. That's the good news. The downside is that we have seen land prices begin to increase fairly dramatically. Probably the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-76911589662432030032009-12-23T11:55:00.002Z2009-12-23T12:12:42.611Z

As the year comes to an end, I am working on the budget for the WLT. In 2009 we raised over £2.5 million (over $4million) and are anticipating a further increase for 2010. But while preparing budgets and annual accounts, I also look at those of other comparable organisations. Many have had a downturn in 2009 -- as far as I can see one of the main reasons is that too many conservation

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-31156605473013545352009-12-21T09:51:00.002Z2009-12-21T10:07:44.283Z

The WLT is being supported by the Stella Artois Christmas advertising campaign. But this has brought a few criticisms. This is because although the Stella campaign involves an innovative electronic Christmas card, it also involves printing a page on the computer in order to view the card. So critics argue that this is damaging the environment. I agree. No question, paper and all the associated

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-60912614443303239622009-12-09T14:10:00.000Z2009-12-09T14:12:15.243Z

On tonight's Horizon on BBC 2 Sir David Attenborough will be presenting a programme on the human population issue. I haven't seen a preview, but it is potentially one of the most important TV programmes of 2009. Sir David speaking out on the issue, at a time when carbon and climate change are high on the agenda, is very significant. It can be argued that addressing the human population issue is

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-54326486215229220552009-12-07T16:12:00.000Z2009-12-07T16:13:36.253Z

Third Sector is the trade magazine for charities, and I read it every week. Not from cover to cover of course, much of it is irrelevant to the WLT. But there is always something of value. This week I read of an animal welfare charity Spana (I think it used to be the Society for Protection of Animals in North Africa -- but changed to simply Spana). Their highly emotive campaign in newspapers

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-3695671436243771922009-12-01T16:48:00.015Z2009-12-02T16:30:11.412Z

Most conservation organisations are good at producing reports, but how many actually get read? I tried to read a report published today by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), but it was so imbued with navel-gazing report-speak that I gave up. When the best recommendation this report came up with is as quoted below, I am not surprised that there is little support for the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-80238542407494407312009-11-26T16:01:00.000Z2009-11-26T16:01:56.937Z

Why is the World Land Trust not participating in the Copenhagen meeting? Quite simply because the WLT believes first and foremost in doing something, not just talking. Several thousand people will gather in Copenhagen, and most of them will not actually achieve anything. Some of them will feel good because they are present, others will feel disappointed, for the same reason. But the huge

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-8716341885232469542009-10-26T09:26:00.001Z2009-10-26T10:04:05.924Z

My apologies to any regular readers of this column for my recent silence. There are very good reasons. First I was away in Brazil for a meeting of the leaders of 17 of our partner organisations. Perhaps the most stimulating gathering of this type I have ever been to. Such enthusiasm and support from all our partners.The second reason is that since I returned life has been incredibly hectic, and

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-86843750222664782552009-09-29T12:55:00.000+01:002009-09-29T12:55:00.544+01:00

At the end of this week, I am off to Brazil for a meeting with the directors of most of our project partner organisations. Together with the IUCN-NL (IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands) we have organised a symposium so that our partners can get together and discuss issues of common interest.This year's theme is Payments for Ecological Services and Strengthening Memberships and one of our

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-17155518084391651082009-09-28T13:03:00.001+01:002009-10-02T10:36:20.979+01:00

I've just returned from a week's holiday. But while it was a great break, it did raise conservation issues and brought home how seemingly intact, but unprotected areas are being degraded on an ever increasing scale.We spent a week on the coast of Greece, near the Albanian border, an area I have visited several times, the first time being as long ago as 1963. Development is rampant along the coast

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-50455913065265159312009-09-09T11:52:00.000+01:002009-09-09T11:53:04.350+01:00

This week has been more hectic than is usual -- even by World Land Trust standards. We have been to University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich to discuss a research programme we are establishing with our partners in Paraguay and the University. We also met with representatives of the World Art department who are particularly interested in my personal ethnographic collections, as they are hosting

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-19571402532480491162009-08-25T10:47:00.001+01:002009-08-25T17:02:17.709+01:00

Last weekend was a busy weekend for the World Land Trust, as we had our stand at the British Birdwatching Fair, at Rutland Water. Our stand always features our partners, and this year representatives from Guyra Paraguay and REGUA, Brazil attended along with staff of the WLT. I arrived on Thursday night for the set up and spent a very enjoyable day there on Friday.The great thing about the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-30712009468730208232009-08-14T09:47:00.001+01:002009-08-14T09:47:00.269+01:00

I have just returned from a visit to Paraguay, where I found it very depressing to see the alarming rate of destruction of the Chaco. One of the last great wildernesses of the world, the Chaco is being caved up, and bulldozed at a rate of around 1000ha (2,500 acres) a DAY.An aerial view of the Chaco shows the extent of the destruction. The incredibly fragile habitat of the Chaco is home not only

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-42451273524873729632009-07-31T15:01:00.000+01:002009-07-31T15:03:01.585+01:00

Inboxes of 50 or more emails every morning are now commonplace, and probably another 50 or so coming in during the course of the day. So how does one deal with this volume? The answer is probably, "Not very well". So I am on the look out for advice.As I have mentioned elsewhere in this diary, many of the emails are internal and for information only -- just copies. But I would not like to ditch

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-62840707992894876522009-07-15T15:07:00.000+01:002009-07-15T15:08:57.627+01:00

Reading Third Sector Magazine this morning I see that the Church of England is suggesting that churchgoers should contribute 5% of their earnings to the Church and other charitable causes.As is well-known, numbers of regular churchgoers are in freefall in England. I live right next door to a rural parish church, where the three or four clergy are shared with a dozen other rural parishes, and the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-15962563665671241702009-07-13T16:02:00.001+01:002009-07-13T16:03:48.505+01:00

As we arrived at the office this morning I was reminded that it is important to always have the wildlife we are trying to conserve at the forefront of our thoughts. I was reminded, because over Halesworth in the midst of a large flock of swifts there was a Hobby hovering and chasing. A magnificent sight. But this year the number of swallows seems to be in free fall. Swifts, that most urban of

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805139.post-20347748521200742012009-07-07T11:26:00.001+01:002009-07-07T11:30:51.984+01:00

Last week I went through some of the applications for the post of Conservation and Communications Manager that we recently advertised for. It is truly depressing to see the incredibly low standard of the overwhelming majority of the applications. It would be a good idea if universities spent a bit more time training their graduates in how to write a CV and how to apply for a job.The most common

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.com3