The latest WLT Impact Report details the international success of the global conservation charity in 2025.
It’s fair to say that 2025 was a challenging year for the environment. Increasing temperatures, wildfires, deforestation, species loss, and political systems that appeared to be at war with nature added more stress to ecosystems that were already under pressure. But there are beacons of hope out there, one of which is global conservation charity World Land Trust (WLT).
Since 1989, WLT has raised money to purchase land for the sole purpose of conservation, working with local partners and communities to preserve that land and its inhabitants from agriculture, mining and illegal poaching. The latest results of that work have just been published in the organisation’s 2025 Impact Report, a detailed look at the amount of land saved, species protected, partnerships made and projects carried out. It demonstrates what can be achieved when dedicated and knowledgeable people come together to work for the environment, rather than against it.
“Across the globe, biodiversity loss and the escalating impacts of climate change continue to place immense pressure on ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them,” said Dr Catherine Barnard, CEO of WLT in the report’s introduction. “Yet amid these challenges, this year has also been a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when people come together behind a shared purpose.”
Headline figures
Across the board, 2025 was a good year for WLT, with 143,502 hectares (ha) added to its total amount of land secured. Since WLT’s approach to land conservation is to create connected, resilient ecosystems, an equally important number is the total amount of land connected, which has risen by a huge 6,617,686 ha to 8,326,634 ha. This connected habitat enables wildlife to move freely across landscapes, which reduces fragmentation, supports genetic diversity and strengthens the ability of ecosystems to adapt to the pressures of climate change.
Proof of the effectiveness of WLT and its local partners’ work in protecting these ecosystems can be seen in the ‘Population persistence levels of key indicator species’. This percentage figure comes from the levels of over 477 populations of key indicator species across 100 reserves that
WLT has helped establish, which includes more than 179 globally threatened species.
For 2025, that level was calculated to be 98.82%, slightly more than the previous year, which shows a high level of stability across monitored populations and is a strong indication of the effectiveness of WLT’s long-term conservation approach.
Carbon Balanced programme
Along with Buy an Acre, Plant a Tree, and the Action Fund, one of WLT’s core programmes is the Carbon Balanced programme. The programme offers a way for brands and companies to support nature, biodiversity and reduce the current unavoidable carbon emissions of your printed communications and paper packaging.
In 2025, the Carbon Balanced community supported four projects in three countries, Uganda, Guatemala and Mexico, which collectively saved 94,267 tCO2e. Those four projects also protected a number of threatened species such as the western lowland gorilla in Uganda, the black-eyed leaf frog in Guatemala, and the Bell’s false brook salamander in Mexico.
Not only that, the funds raised by the Carbon Balanced programme also contribute to extensive reforestation schemes as well as education projects for local communities.
“Every hectare protected represents far more than a figure on a page as the impact of this work extends far beyond immediate conservation outcomes alone,” said Barnard. “It represents clean water, climate resilience, cultural knowledge and hope for the future both locally and globally.”
To download the 2025 WLT Impact Report, go to worldlandtrust.org/annual-report-accounts
