World Land Trust (WLT), the international conservation charity, today announced they have successfully raised one million pounds to save the rainforest home of Orang-utans and other endangered wildlife in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain of Sabah, Borneo.

The announcement was made during World Land Trust's 25th Anniversary event, entitled 'Saving Paradise: An Acre-by-Acre Journey',which took place at the BAFTA Theatre, London, on Tuesday 6 May 2014 celebrating 25 years of successfully protecting the world's most biologically important and threatened habitats.

John Burton, CEO and Founder of World Land Trust, commented: “We have been overwhelmed by the response to our Borneo Rainforest Appeal. It was an ambitious target and we hoped our supporters would respond generously, as indeed they have done.

“WLT's Big Match Fortnight in October 2013 raised £725,000 and we could not have achieved this magnificent sum without the generosity of the donors who pledged to match the amount we raised. Hundreds of people contributed during the fortnight, many inspired by Simon Barnes' features in The Times.”

The Borneo Rainforest Appeal was organised in partnership with Hutan, a conservation NGO based in Sabah, which is one of the few remaining Orang-utan strongholds. The funds raised will secure the Keruak Corridor, a critically important strip of forest along the north bank of the Kinabatangan River, which links two existing forest reserves therefore enabling isolated groups of Orang-utans to travel over larger distances and to form more viable populations. Many other species will also benefit from the purchasing of the land between the protected areas including Pygmy Elephants and Proboscis Monkey.

To promote the Borneo appeal abroad, World Land Trust partnered with Rainforest Trust, a US-based non-profit conservation organisation, whose donation on the eve of World Land Trust's 25th Anniversary helped to reach the one million pound target.

“The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in Borneo has resulted in an unprecedented destruction of unique and rich tropical rainforests, putting the future of Borneo's Orang-utans in serious jeopardy. Thanks to thousands of donations, this appeal will help ensure the survival of important Orang-utan and Pygmy Elephant populations,” said Dr Paul Salaman, CEO of Rainforest Trust.

Dr Isabelle Lackman, Co-Director of Hutan, WLT's conservation partner in Malaysia said, “Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of all World Land Trust's supporters and partners, we are now in the process of purchasing and permanently protecting a strategically important corridor of forest along the River Kinabatangan. The protection of the forest is crucial for the protection of species, and by connecting forests that are fragmented; we know we can save viable populations of Orang-utans.”

For more information on World Land Trust, visit www.worldlandtrust.org.

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For more information please contact:

McCluskey International 

Judy McCluskey / Sarah Salord / Jessica Meins

T: 020 8747 2170

E: worldlandtrust@mccluskey.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

About World Land Trust (WLT)

World Land Trust (WLT) is an international conservation charity, which protects the world's most biologically important and threatened habitats acre by acre. Since its foundation in 1989, WLT has funded partner organisations around the world to create reserves, and give permanent protection to habitats and wildlife. The mission of the World Land Trust is: To protect and sustainably manage natural ecosystems of the world; To conserve their biodiversity, with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species; To develop partnerships with local individuals, communities and organisations to engage support and commitment among the people who live in project areas; To raise awareness, in the UK and elsewhere, of the need for conservation, to improve understanding and generate support through education, information and fundraising.

About Rainforest Trust

Rainforest Trust (formerly World Land Trust-US) is a US nonprofit conservation organisation focused on saving rainforest and endangered species. For 25 years, Rainforest Trust has saved rainforests and other tropical habitats in 73 projects across 20 tropical countries. Rainforest Trust protects threatened land in partnership with local conservation leaders and indigenous communities. The organisation has consistently been awarded the top four-star Charity Navigator rating in the USA.

About Hutan

HUTAN was founded as a small research organisation looking into the local reasons for the decline in the Orang-utans. Based at a small research station, HUTAN's findings were used by the Sabah Wildlife Department to implement a conservation strategy for the species in the area. The organisation has grown and now liaises with numerous organisations and individuals that are interested in the conservation of the area, including NGOs, local communities and the government. HUTAN works in partnership with LEAP Spiral and WLT on the Borneo Orang-utan Appeal, to create wildlife corridors in the Kinabatangan floodplain. The aim is to create a contiguous habitat for Orang-utans and other wildlife, whose forests are being devastated by the worldwide demand for palm oil.