Legacies for Conservation: Remembering World Land Trust in your Will

“The money that is given to the World Land Trust, in my estimation, has more effect on the wild world than almost anything I can think of.”

Sir David Attenborough,
World Land Trust Patron

Why Should I Leave a Legacy to World Land Trust?

Including World Land Trust in your will is a gift to the future of conservation

Demand by humans on the world's natural resources has never been greater and the world’s last regions of pristine and fragile wilderness are struggling to survive.

Sir David Attenborough says: "A legacy to World Land Trust is a legacy for future generations, ensuring some of the last remaining strongholds of our earthly paradise will survive for our descendants" © David Bebber

We know our supporters care about saving our wild world and are committed to doing all they can to save rainforests and other vital wildlife habitats from being lost. Our supporters are helping us protecting these habitats as permanent wildlife reserves. Leaving a legacy to World Land Trust (WLT) will help us enormously in our aims.

Your legacy to World Land Trust

• can protect threatened rainforest or other wilderness habitats as a nature reserve.
• will enable in-country partner organisations to secure land for conservation, ensuring that ownership remains with local people.
• goes further: WLT keeps administration and overheads as low as possible so funds go to save threatened wildlife habitats.

Learn more about how World Land Trust works »

What Your Legacy Can Do for Conservation

Legacy helps save wilderness in Paraguay – a case study

In 2005, WLT was delighted to receive a legacy from the estate of Suffolk businessman Sid Templer. This came at a crucial moment when WLT was establishing a partnership with Guyra Paraguay and gave us the opportunity to work together on the purchase of a new reserve in the Chaco-Pantanal region of Paraguay, now known as the Sid Templer Reserve.

Legacy for conservation protects endangered species: Jaguars, a threatened species, are safeguarded by the Chaco-Pantanal Reserve in Paraguay. The creation of this reserve was supported by a legacy from Suffolk businessman Sid Templer © Hugo del Castillo

This wildlife reserve teems with wildlife on land and on the river; it is an important stopover point for thousands of migrating birds and is home to many endemic and endangered species such as the Giant Armadillo, Giant Otter and Giant Anteater, as well as Jaguar and Puma.

Alberto Yanosky, Guyra Paraguay's Executive Director, said:

"Sid Templer's legacy has been a milestone in our history. For years Guyra Paraguay was trying to secure lands in the Pantanal and it was with this legacy that the conservation of such an important site was made a reality. In many sites around the world such legacies could make a strong difference for conservation of critical habitats."

WLT and Guyra Paraguay identified a strategically important area protecting habitat along the Río Negro (Black River), and thanks to Sid Templer's legacy, we were able to protect a 8,650 acre (3,600 ha) reserve.

The initial purchase provided the impetus and inspiration for the creation of a reserve area many times greater: With help from other WLT supporters, it now forms the core of the Chaco-Pantanal Reserve, protecting almost 35,000 acres, and WLT continues to raise funds for management and further land purchase.

Living Legacy: Kites Hill Reserve was donated to World Land Trust by Jane Pointer and is managed for conservation © Luke Nolt

A Living Legacy: Bequests of land for conservation

WLT's Kites Hill Reserve is a Living Legacy by Jane Pointer who enjoys seeing her woodland and meadows in the Cotswolds being managed for conservation. Jane said:

"Leaving a living legacy to WLT has given me the opportunity to take an active interest in the continued conservation of Kites Hill, while granting me the peace of mind that my land will be protected forever and provide a safe haven for all its wildlife."

If you are considering a bequest of land for conservation purposes it would be very helpful to WLT if you would discuss your plans with us. This way we can ensure that your own wishes concerning the future of the land are taken into account.

How to Give a Gift to Conservation in Your Will

We are very happy to discuss your plans to remember WLT in your will, as we realise you may have questions about how your money will be used. It is also hugely beneficial to us to know in advance if our supporters have decided to leave a legacy to the WLT. For a confidential discussion please contact Viv Burton on VBurton@worldlandtrust.org or by calling the WLT offices.

We would always recommend that you seek legal advice when writing or amending a will but you might like to consider:

How you would like us to use your legacy: Unrestricted legacies are the most flexible, and enable WLT to use the funds as most urgently needed at the time they are received, but if you wish to ensure your gift goes directly to a particular project area we can assure you of that too. Please be aware that our priorities will change with time and detailed provisions can become problematic so a legacy to the WLT Action Fund, for our most urgent project priorities at the time, can be of the greatest assistance to saving land and wildlife that is critically threatened.

What sort of bequest? You can choose to leave a sum of money, a specific item or you can leave a share in your residual estate, which ensures funds only come to WLT after your specified legacies have been fulfilled.

A codicil to an existing will: If your will is up to date you can use a codicil to add a legacy in favour of WLT without having to rewrite everything. You can download a sample codicil form here (PDF) to make this even simpler. Codicils must be formally witnessed by two people and appended to your existing will – we would always recommend that you seek legal advice.

Inheritance tax: Charitable legacies can help to reduce the amount of inheritance tax due on your estate, as they are exempt. In addition, under new rules that will apply from April 2012, the rate of inheritance tax will reduce from 40% to 37% where 10% of the estate is left to charity. Estates valued below a certain threshold, currently £325,000 but liable to change, do not attract inheritance tax so this will not benefit everyone. More information about inheritance tax can be found on the HMRC website.

Why I left a bequest to WLT in my Will: Read a message from WLT Trustee, Jonathan Self (PDF) »