On #GivingTuesday, 1 December 2015, World Land Trust (WLT) is highlighting the vital role played by reserve rangers in protecting rare and threatened wildlife.
Reserve rangers are of paramount importance in protecting the half a million acres of threatened habitat that supporters have helped WLT save over the last 25 years.
The land that you have helped save is now in the safe hands of WLT’s network of overseas project partners who rely on their wildlife rangers to patrol and protect their reserves, safeguarding them from illegal loggers and poachers. They are the unsung heroes of the rainforest, and can often find themselves in dangerous situations, so please recognise their bravery today.
WLT’s Keepers of the Wild programme helps fund rangers to carry out a multitude of essential activities, to protect the habitat and the wildlife that depends on it.
On World Ranger Day in 2015, WLT launched a new appeal - Keepers of the Wild 2020 - to raise £750,000 to guarantee the programme between 2016 and 2020.
Partner testimonials
The programme is highly valued by WLT’s conservation partners. This is what some of them have said:
“The Keepers of the Wild are essential to maintain the wildlife areas that we protect with the support of World Land Trust in the private reserves of Sierra Gorda. They are our eyes and hands in the field, they maintain contact with the surrounding community, and their involvement and solidarity with biodiversity is ever growing.” (Roberto Pedraza Ruiz, Technical Officer of Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda in Mexico)
“Keepers of the Wild is a wonderful programme, directly meeting the needs of key personnel within protected areas. It is a personalised programme supporting human resources, and rangers identify with the programme, feeling a greater obligation to carry out their work in the best way possible.” (Germanico Barrios, Ecotourism and Marketing Manager of Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación in Guatemala)
“Ensuring that land is really protected requires full time dedication. Keeping poachers and loggers out, checking on the health of the ecosystem and its species and allowing people to connect with nature are just some of the duties behind real conservation, and they just couldn’t happen without a dedicated staff of rangers. WLT’s Keepers of the Wild Programme ensures that all the protected areas that WLT has established can count on rangers to carry out real conservation, every day.” (Bibiana Sucre, Executive Director of Asociación Civil Provita in Venezuela)
“The support of the Keepers of the Wild programme has enabled us to increase the number of rangers in key reserves, resulting in a better patrolling and protection capacity. Keepers of the Wild rangers also collaborate to maintain good relations with communities and stakeholders around the reserves. The programme has also funded better equipment for rangers, which has facilitated the monitoring of species of flora and fauna, and important recordings of rare species.” (Carolina Arroyo, Director of Strategic Relations of Fundación Jocotoco in Ecuador)
More information
Now in its second year in the UK, Giving Tuesday is an international initiative coordinated in the UK by Charities Aid Foundation and Blackbaud.
Please support #GivingTuesday by donating to WLT’s Keepers 2020 Appeal and please spread the word on social media.