Finance Score: 6
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 4
  • Good reserves management: +3
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Overall weighted support: +4
Overall GiG Score: 16 ?

WORLD LAND TRUST

Overview

Pioneering the innovative approach of land purchasing as a means of protecting wildlife and habitats or 'Buying an Acre', the World Land Trust has allowed the preservation of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable reserve land over the last 30 years.

Compelling conservation projects provide the base for informative communications with their supporters that has generated a foundation of loyal donors and generated consistent income through their fundraising appeals.

Transitioning to a new CEO, Catherine Barnard, in 2019 the charity has been taken in a fresh direction even with the challenges of the pandemic crisis. This resilience to persevere in support of international partnering organisations proves the effectiveness of their work and the importance of their conservation activities.

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

Funding the creation of nature reserves and providing permanent protection for habitats and wildlife
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • The charity has received backing from several prominent grant makers recently
  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • Fundraising costs are low relative to funds raised
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit £k
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/12/23£10,232£7,845£2,387£589£8,926£5,6028.6360
31/12/22£8,790£8,480£310£602£6,588£4,8346.8320
31/12/21£8,192£8,156£36£594£6,223£5,2507.7300
31/12/20£7,086£6,317£769£451£6,115£4,4928.5290
31/12/19£5,696£6,228£-532£435£5,486£3,7807.3261
31/12/18£4,934£4,822£112£380£5,890£4,36010.9260
31/12/17£4,479£3,309£1,170£395£5,808£3,37512.2250
31/12/16£3,366£3,308£58£308£4,519£2,2798.3250
31/12/15£4,003£3,576£427£468£4,191£2,2417.5210
31/12/14£3,202£2,319£883£386£3,703£1,0115.2200
31/12/13£2,818£2,194£625£283£2,772£8544.7220
31/12/12£2,456£2,432£24£329£1,442£5402.7260
31/12/11*£3,134£3,015£118£274£1,396£4741.9250
31/12/10£2,447£2,699£-252£581£1,288£2371.1240
31/12/09£2,959£2,712£247£266£1,500£2761.2200
31/12/08£2,450£2,178£272£290£1,393£3181.8150
31/12/07£1,824£1,312£512£233£1,121£1881.7130
31/12/06£1,076£1,004£73n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/12/05£639£435£204n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/12/04£452£326£126n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 5.9%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 7.6%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 4%
Highest pay band: £80,000-£90,000
Liabilities/Assets: 36%
Liabilities/Income: 49%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 63%
Reserves/Spending: 8.6 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 13 months
Quick Ratio: 2.9
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Comment: Individual donors, particularly their monthly members known as Friends, are the backbone the charity (more than 2,500 at the end of 2018). An average 98% retention rate of these loyal donors over the last 10 years has been key to project funding success including donations directed into their Action Fund, that allow urgent conservation action to take place quickly when needed. Legacies are a major source of income but are unpredictable year to year.

Source: Giving is Great

Established: 34 years

www.worldlandtrust.org

info@worldlandtrust.org

01986874422

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookInstagramXYouTube
UN SDGs
?
How you can help
What it does
World Land Trust is an international conservation charity that protects the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats acre by acre. Through a network of partner organisations around the world, they fund the creation of reserves and provide permanent protection for habitats and wildlife. Partnerships are developed with established and highly respected local organisations who engage support and commitment among the local community to protect the most endangered areas and species.
Listed activities
  • Animals
  • Education/Training
  • Environment/Conservation/Heritage
GiG Classification
  • Environment conservation & animal welfare advocacy
How it operates
  • Acts as an umbrella or resource body
  • Makes grants to organisations
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides services
  • Sponsors or undertakes research
Where it operates
  • Argentina, Armenia, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Gloucestershire, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Tanzania, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia,
Who it helps
  • Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
  • The General Public/Mankind

Who supports them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
CHK Foundation - CHK Discretionary Grant
£50,000 12/10/2022
to support specified work
CHK Foundation - CHK Discretionary Grant
£50,000 04/02/2022
unrestricted, to further the Charitable Objects
CHK Foundation - CHK Mission Grant
£25,000 22/09/2021
to support specified work
The EQ Foundation - Grant to World Land Trust
£10,000 15/05/2021
Unrestricted
CHK Foundation - CHK Discretionary Grant
£50,000 12/04/2021
to support specified work
CHK Foundation - CHK Discretionary Grant
£50,000 22/10/2020
to further the charitable objects
CHK Foundation - CHK Discretionary Grant
£50,000 16/12/2019
to support specified work
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How do they operate?

Buy an Acre

Objectives: To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the natural environment through re-establishment of threatened natural habitats, conservation of endangered wildlife and rare species of fauna and flora and by advancing the education of conservation professionals and members of the public

Beneficiaries: The environment, endangered animals and human race

Description: The World Land Trusts partner organisations located in countries where land preservation is vital apply for ‘Buy an Acre’ funding when opportunities to purchase wildlife-rich habitats arise at a cost of around £100 per acre. Donations to Buy an Acre are then used for priority areas when land purchase has been negotiated by their partner and every acre saved becomes part of a larger reserve protected in perpetuity.

Keepers of the Wild

Description: Keepers of the Wild supports World Land Trust partner organisations to help them employ local men and women as rangers in areas of conservation. Rangers are essential to the day-to-day protection, ongoing site and species monitoring, and long-term success of the reserves. Safeguarding land is a challenge; successfully protecting these large areas of land is an arduous and unpredictable task and the on-going reserve management that each of the rangers provides relieves this pressure,

....more
Carbon Balanced Programme

Beneficiaries: The environment, endangered animals and human race

Description: The programme enables individuals and organisations to offset their residual greenhouse gas emissions through the protection and restoration of carbon-rich wildlife habitats in the tropics. By offsetting emissions and protecting threatened habitats that would otherwise have been lost this avoids the release of stored carbon and enables the regeneration of degraded habitats, which gradually re-absorb atmospheric CO2.

Plant-a-Tree Programme

Beneficiaries: The environment, endangered animals and human race

Description: World Land Trust works with in-country partners to protect crucial areas of land, selecting sites that are rich in biodiversity and that support long-term conservation goals to connect and enlarge protected areas. They support their partners throughout the reforestation process, from the planting and care of young trees, through to their establishment as new forest habitat.

How effective are they?
Outputs
Outcomes
Y/ERangers funded
31/12/202044
Y/EAcres protected
31/12/2020113,003
Commentary: Though their yearly land acquisition impact data can vary greatly by how and when each project secures acres, every reserve that donors have ever helped fund still exists, is not threatened by agriculture, and many have received protection by the state legislation. This is important given the length and breath of work the charity has completed with partners, and engaging a new generation of supporter in their carbon offsetting programme keeps this work relevant when continuing their conservation into the future.
See what you could achieve with a donation of: £
How do we calculate this?

Who works here?

  • CATHERINE BARNARD
    CEO
    Appointed: September 2019
Catherine became CEO in September 2019 and has more than 25 years of experience in conservation and natural resource management. She spent 15 years in the BirdLife International network, working for the BirdLife Secretariat and the RSPB, where she led the RSPB's international conservation programmes department. She was also president of the Sustainable Agriculture Network and involved in the development of their voluntary sustainability standard ....more
  • LIZ STONE
    COO
    Appointed: September 2012
Liz has 15 years’ experience of working within the charity sector both in practice and within charities. Liz has overall responsibility for finance and resources for WLT and its trading subsidiary. Liz spends her spare time enjoying the outdoors with her family.
  • RICHARD CUTHBERT
    Director of Conservation
    Appointed: January 2018
A conservation scientist by training, Richard has worked for over 20 years in international conservation on a diverse range of issues including the impact of non-native species on seabirds, the catastrophic decline of Asia’s vultures, and community projects to conserve coral reefs and rainforest. After obtaining a PhD in New Zealand he worked for over ten years with the RSPB’s international research team and three years directing Wildlife ....more
Commentary: 2019 was a year of successful transition from founders John and Viv Burton to Dr. Jonathan Barnard as the new Chief Executive. Patrons supporting the charities work have included Sir David Attenborough, Steve Blackshall, David Gower and Chris Packham.

Source: Giving is Great

How is it governed?

Trustees (8)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 49-74
  • CLAIRE ASHBY Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Accountant
  • DR ANDREW PAUL BALMFORD Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Professor Of Conservation Science
  • DR JULIUS ALEXANDER ARINAITWE Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Conservationist
  • EMMA TOZER Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Director
  • KEN BURNETT Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Consultant
  • LAWRENCE DAVID SIMANOWITZ Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Solicitor
  • MYLES ARCHIBALD (Chair) Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Publisher
  • PHILLIP SIMON SHAPIRO Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Managing Director
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 14/12/1990, number: 1001291
  • Registered at Companies House on 29/10/1990, number: 02552942
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investing charity funds policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
20 returns made; AR11: 12 days late,
Recent reorganisation events:
  • Asset transfer in from THE FRANCIS WILDLIFE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION on 18/11/2022
Main office

WORLD LAND TRUST
BLYTH HOUSE
3B BRIDGE STREET
HALESWORTH
IP19 8AB

Objectives

TO PROMOTE THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THROUGH:A) THE CONSERVATION AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THREATENED NATURAL HABITATS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD;B) THE CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED WILDLIFE AND RARE SPECIES OF FAUNA AND FLORA ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD; ANDC) ADVANCING THE EDUCATION OF CONSERVATION PROFESSIONALS AND THE PUBLIC IN MATTERS RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE AND NATURAL SCIENCES

Defined Area of Benefit:

WORLDWIDE

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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