World Land Trust (WLT) is an international conservation charity that protects the world’s mostbiologically significant and threatened habitats.
The Trustees of World Land Trust (WLT) form the governing body of the charity and combine the responsibilities of trustees as laid down in the Charity Act 2011 and of company directors as laid down in the Company Act 2006. As a member of the Board of Trustees, you will share the collective responsibility for directing the affairs of WLT, ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for which it has been set up. You will be committed to ensuring that WLT’s governance is of the highest possible standard. In exercising your collective responsibility your primary duty in all cases will be to act in the best interests of the charity.
As well as exercising your statutory duties, it is expected that as a Trustee you will endeavour to: attend all Board meetings; be familiar with WLT’s governing document and any rules or bye-laws; use any specific knowledge or experience you have to help the Board of Trustees reach sound decisions; assist the Executive with advice as required; and keep informed about, and support as appropriate, the activities of the organisation.
As a Trustee, you will also be a Member of WLT, with the rights, liabilities and obligations attached to Membership. Liability of Members is limited to a sum not exceeding £10 in the event of WLT being wound up. You will be invited to attend general meetings of the charity, and you will have the right to vote on ordinary and special resolutions, including the nomination and election of trustees and changes to the governing document, rules or bye laws of WLT. Your membership of WLT will expire with your term of office as a Trustee.
World Land Trust seeks new Trustees who will be engaged, ensure good governance, and help deliver its ambitious growth strategy. The successful candidates must bring expertise in one of the following areas:
Fundraising – we are keen to hear from candidates with significant fundraising experience at large UK charities. Current knowledge of fundraising strategy and best practice is essential. It is also desirable to have experience in one or more of, regular giving, major giving, or trusts and foundations, with a strong preference for experience in donor acquisition, preferably in the environmental space.
Conservation – we are particularly interested in candidates from high-biodiversity countries in tropical regions with first-hand experience of conservation on the frontline. In particular, we’re looking for fresh perspectives on one or more of the following: strategic landscape prioritisation and planning, area-based mechanisms for effective land protection, community-led conservation, innovation in conservation, and/or payment for ecosystem services. We would especially welcome applications from early-career conservation professionals to complement our existing Trustee expertise.
We would also welcome applications from people open to taking on the role of Chair in the future and those interested in chairing sub-committees or advisory panels.
World Land Trust would like to receive applications from who have not held a board role before now, provided they can demonstrate that they have the ability to work at a strategic level, think creatively and criticise strategies and plans constructively. We are also open to applications from outside the UK, in particular from parts of the world where we work with partners.
Successful candidates will get a full induction, and we will support less-experienced candidates to develop the necessary skills, through training and/or mentorship.
The world is facing interlinked biodiversity and climate crises and a sixth mass extinction event, with up to half a million species under urgent threat of extinction in the coming decades. The most critical threat to biodiversity is the ongoing loss and degradation of natural habitat, with more than half of the world’s terrestrial area now dominated by human land uses.
World Land Trust (WLT) works directly to tackle this threat on the ground, by bringing land into conservation in partnership with local conservation organisations and groups who are best placed to ensure its ongoing management and protection. This simple approach has underpinned WLT’s work for the last 30 years, and over this period WLT has funded the protection of 1,207,727 hectares of land and the protection of over 13,000 species. In addition, WLT supports programmes to restore habitats, sequester carbon and fund rangers.
Currently, WLT supports 52 project partners in 30 countries, primarily across Central and South America, Africa and Asia. Species protected in WLT supported reserves include African and Asian Elephants, Western Lowland Gorillas, Bornean Orangutans, Jaguars, Spectacled Bears, and countless species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and plants. Its patrons are Sir David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, David Gower and Chris Packham.
We are at a critical juncture. WLT has grown significantly in the last five years, but so has the desperate need to protect habitat and species from ever increasing threats to threatened habitats and the rapidly escalating effects of climate change. We have an ambitious strategy to maximise our impact and are looking for two new trustees to support this journey.
Our aim is to build an organisation that reflects this diversity, while fostering a working environment which allows everyone – regardless of their differences – to thrive. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic group, disability or faith. As those from younger age groups, women, and those from ethnically diverse backgrounds are currently underrepresented on the Board, applications from those candidates are particularly encouraged.
If you think you are the person we are looking for please submit a cover letter along with your CV before the closing date.
Interviews will take place week commencing 27 January 2025.
