IMPORTANT UPDATE
WLT is currently prioritising support to our existing network of conservation partners and is not receiving applications from new organisations. You can review our guidance on the type of organisation and partner WLT would normally support below. Please continue to check our website for future updates on the regions and approaches we will be prioritising under our new strategy.
In anticipation of completing an application, please familiarise yourself with the guidelines presented below.
WLT Application Guidelines
Before applying for support from World Land Trust (WLT), please read the following Guidelines and carefully assess if your project and organisation meet the criteria. Concept notes or organisations that fall outside these criteria will not be supported by WLT.
WLT’s mission is to help people across the world protect and restore their land to safeguard biodiversity and the climate. Working through a network of partner organisations around the world, WLT funds the creation of reserves and provides permanent protection for habitats and wildlife.
Partners are typically non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or not for profit/charitable organisations, and with shared objectives around the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems. However, we may also support other organisations, including those with a focus in other areas (for example, development NGOs and indigenous organisations), if these can deliver effective actions for bringing land into conservation and are unable to secure other funding for these activities.
The type of project supported by WLT
WLT funding aims to create long-term and sustainable support for on-the-ground conservation activities, including land acquisition, protected area creation, reserve protection and ecosystem restoration. WLT prioritises supporting projects in countries with high levels of biodiversity and which have the fewest resources available for biodiversity protection – consequently we focus our support to organisations based in the Global South.
The main project activities supported by WLT are the creation of protected areas and the protection and restoration of threatened habitats. Project activities may include land acquisition through a range of mechanisms including land purchases, conservation easements, community reserves, and the legal declaration of protected areas (gazetting).
WLT’s core focus is on bringing new areas of land into conservation protection, but we also support activities that support this core objective including habitat protection (e.g. rangers and patrols), habitat restoration, community activities that are essential for the success of new areas, research and monitoring, and income generation activities that support the financial sustainability of newly created areas or organisations. These latter activities are not funded on their own and would only be considered if they are part of a wider conservation project with the creation or expansion of reserves as the main objective.
All WLT funded projects need to have clear benefits, and no net negative impact to biodiversity, communities and the climate.