Conservation projects news from the World Land Trust, an international wildlife conservation charity working to protect threatened wildlife habitats worldwide.
The main thrust of the World Land Trust is to raise funds to purchase land that is critically threatened by destructive activities such as logging and clearance to make way for intensive agriculture. But this raises the question: "What happens next?"
When World Land Trust (WLT) commits to support its overseas partners in securing land and creating a new protected area, the intention is that these reserves will be protected in perpetuity. With each new reserve comes the associated challenge of how best to ensure its permanent protection. And now that WLT has successfully raised funds for the purchase of over 375,000 acres worldwide this puts a tremendous strain on our project partners who take on the responsibility of protecting their wildlife reserves. Ways of raising a sustainable income stream was one of the key issues that was discussed at a ground-breaking symposium held in The Netherlands in September 2006, to discuss "Land Purchase as a Intervention Strategy for Nature Conservation"
"I am normally very cynical about conferences, and gave up going to most of them years ago, but this symposium demonstrated that if the right people get together, really significant results can be achieved."
John Burton, CEO, World Land Trust |
Held jointly with the IUCN National Committee for the Netherlands (IUCN-NL), the first symposium was attended by the key decision makers from WLT's overseas NGO partners and those of IUCN-NL, and it proved a unique and stimulating forum for discussion. Delegates were all agreed that such meetings should be held every 18-months and the second symposium took place in May 2008, hosted by WLT's first project partners, Programme for Belize. This symposium brought together NGO leaders to discuss "Financial Sustainability of Private Protected Areas".
Attended by seventeen participants from countries ranging from Argentina to India, the symposium was held at the La Milpa Field Station at the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in Belize, in the forest that WLT was set up to help purchase and save nearly twenty years ago.
Delegates at the four-day symposium discussed topics specifically addressing the creation of sustainable income streams for conservation, including Payment for Ecological Services, Carbon Sequestration, Tourism, and Endowment Funds. The wealth of experience and expertise represented by the 17 participants enabled in-depth discussion on the potential opportunities and pit-falls of these topics, and each participant returned home with information and inspiration on how to develop their conservation activities and fulfil their pledges to protecting the reserves in their countries.
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Land Purchase as a Intervention Strategy for Nature Conservation - The proceedings from the 2006 symposium(PDF, 4.72MB, opens in new window)
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The participants of the symposium: Front (kneeling): Constantino Aucca (Ecoan, Peru)
Front row (l-r): John Burton (WLT), Alberto Yanosky (Guyra Paraguay), Maria Lourdes Nunes (Fundação O Boticário, Brazil), Victoria Maldonado (Fundación Palma, Chile), Francisco Sornoza (Fundación Jocotoco, Ecuador)
2nd row (l-r): Edilberto Romero (Programme for Belize), Kirsty Burgess (WLT), Joanne Finch (WLT), Roberto Pedraza (Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda, Mexico), Nicholas Locke (REGUA, Brazil)
3rd/4th row (l-r): Eric von Horstman (Fundación Pro-bosque, Ecuador), Mario Malajovich (Fundación Frontera Verde, Argentina), Marc Hoogeslag (IUCN Netherlands), Aukje de Boer (IUCN Netherlands), Mark Gruin (WLT), Benno Glauser (Iniciativa Amotocodie)
5th/6th row (l-r): Vivek Menon (Wildlife Trust of India), Marco Cerezo (Fundaeco, Guatemala), Luis Castelli (Fundación Patagonia Natural, Argentina), Gerardo Ledesma (Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Founation), Franklin Rojas (Provita, Venezuela), Lou Jost (Fundación Ecominga, Ecuador), Roger Wilson (WLT), Daan Wensing (IUCN Netherlands)
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A round-up of last year's activities by World Land Trust (in the UK and USA) in our conservation project areas around the world.
Brazil
Partner organisation: REGUA
Land Purchase
In 2007, WLT helped REGUA add 1,000 hectares of land to the reserve, and the Trust is currently attempting to raise the funds for eight active land acquisition projects.
35 hectares of the land adjoining the REGUA reserve were purchased following a successful application for €46,000 to IUCN-NL's Small Grants for the Purchase of Nature Programme. Funding for this small but significant piece of land also came with an additional €2,000 for REGUA to use in exchange visits or towards attendance at conferences abroad.
More information:
Land protection and re-introductions at the REGUA reserve
Habitat restoration
Habitat restoration work at REGUA was supported by Scottish and Southern Energy. This covered establishment of 12,200 trees this year.
More information:
Tree planting
Site Visits
A visit to REGUA was made by the winners of the competition run by the Express Newspapers and World Land Trust and organised by Trips Worldwide.
More information:
John Burton, CEO of WLT (UK) hosted a very successful journalists' visit to REGUA that included Simon Barnes (journalist from The Times), Peter Hughes (journalist from The Telegraph) and Emily Mott (photographer for The Telegraph). The visit resulted in several news articles about the reserve and WLT's work in the area:
Research
The Red-Billed Curassow re-introduction programme continued to be a success - so much so that it has led to a re-introduction programme for a second bird species: the Black-fronted Piping Guan, which is also highly endangered but was previously found within the reserve area.
More information:
Ecuador
Partner organisations:
- Fundación Jocotoco
- Fundación Eco Minga
- Fundación Pro Bosque
Land Purchase
WLT donors helped Fundación Jocotoco (FJ) fund critical acquisitions at four of the foundation's eight reserves:
- Yunguilla
- Tapichalaca
- Jorupe
- Buenaventura
The land purchases at Buenaventura and Tapichalaca Reserves were funded in conjunction with WLT's Carbon Balanced Programme (see carbon sequestration, below). Match funding was also received for from the American Bird Conservancy for further extension at Buenaventura.
2,113 hectares was purchased as phase one of a new project to preserve a large tract of virgin forest containing a unique diversity of endemic orchids. This followed a proposal submitted to WLT by Lou Jost of Fundación EcoMinga to create a corridor between two National Parks, Sangay and Los Llanganates.More information:
Habitat restoration
The reforestation work funded by Scottish and Southern Energy was fully established in 2007, working with Fundación Pro-Bosque and Fundación Jocotoco at four sites:
- Cerro Blanco
- Jorupe
- Buenaventura
- Tapichalaca
Some 61,000 native trees have been planted, which involved setting up and/or re-equipping tree nurseries in each of these areas. All of the plantings buffer, connect or fill cleared areas in the reserves.
The nurseries and field teams are now prepared to meet the 2008 target of planting a further 380,000 trees. The funding also covers field staff, fire training and construction of a new forest guard station.
More information:
Tree planting at BuenaventuraCarbon sequestration
The Yanacocha carbon sequestration project was fully established this year, including a nursery for native species with an output capacity of 20,000 seedlings per year. This has been used to restore forest cover with the financial support of Maryvale Farms and Bird Holidays.
Two new Carbon Balances projects were also established at Tapichalaca and Buenaventura. Both offset CO2 emissions using a mixture of forest protection, natural regeneration and enrichment planting with native species.
More information:
Carbon Balanced project areas
India
Partner organisation: Wildlife Trust of India
The final instalment of WLT's commitments towards the Siju-Rewak Elephant Corridor was made in June. Following this, 200 hectares adjacent to the corridor has been officially declared as the Siju Arthika Reserve Forest which is one of the first community designated reserve forests in India.
The progress of the Tirunelli-Kudrakote Elephant Corridor continues in Kerala. Activities have included the straight purchase of land, as well as providing alternative housing outside the corridor area for some of the residents. These were formally handed over in 30th April by a Member of the Legislative Assembly during a local ceremony leaving the Thirulakunna settlement completely without human inhabitants.
More information:
Paraguay
Partner organisation: Guyra Paraguay
Land purchase
Dry Chaco
3,500 hectares has been purchased in the Dry Chaco, representing the first phase of this project.
San Rafael
World Land Trust, World Land Trust-US, and American Bird Conservancy joined forces - and funds - for a purchase of 600ha at San Rafael, with the funds raised by WLT and WLT-US matched by ABC.
More information:
New land purchases in Ecuador and Paraguay
Chaco-Pantanal
The first phase of the construction of the "Three Giants" biological station was completed last year. Land purchase continues at the reserve with a strategic purchase encompassing a large portion of the river bank covering an area of 1779 hectares.
More information:
Tree planning
Scottish and Southern Energy funding was used to support a 12 ha pilot planting at San Rafael. This will now be maintained and expanded to about 50 ha per year, plus maintenance for three years after planting.
More information:
Tree planting
Other projects
Fundación Avifauna Eugene Eisenmann, Panama
WLT has helped US donors participate in the international effort to build the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center on Pipeline Road of the Panama Canal. This state-of-the art facility will promote conservation of rainforest habitat to the canal's international visitors and the millions of Panamanians who live close by.
Kites Hill Reserve, United Kingdom
Kites Hill, located in Gloucestershire, is the only reserve owned by the World Land Trust rather than a partner organisation. An application submitted to the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust resulted in a pledged donation of £5,000 to go towards the construction of a pond at Kites Hill that aims to increase the biodiversity at the Reserve.
Osa Biodiversity Center, Costa Rica
The Osa Peninsula holds a fairly intact remnant of Pacific coastal rainforest. WLT donors are supporting research on three rare bird species restricted to the region of the peninsula, the Mangrove Hummingbird, Yellow-billed Cotinga, and Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. The research supports efforts to permanently protect areas of habitat.
Sierra de Alamos Reserve, Mexico
WLT supported Nature and Culture International in purchasing land to expand their 7,500-acre private reserve within the Sierra de Alamos reserve in northern Mexico. This reserve protects the northernmost tropical deciduous forest in the Americas, a highly diverse but endangered ecosystem that used to extend from Sonora to southern Central America, but is now highly fragmented.
Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico
This reserve is recognised as being the most ecologically diverse of all the natural protected areas in Mexico. A purchase of 100 hectare property at the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve represents the first half of WLT's avoided deforestation and assisted regeneration project in the reserve.
For more information about the WLT's projects, see
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/index.htm
http://www.worldlandtrust-us.org/projects/index.html
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