Big Match Fortnight: An update on 2021 and a preview of 2022

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Guardians of Nimla Ha’:
Learn about the impact of last year’s Big Match Fortnight appeal with our new report


With an initial fundraising target of £1.2 million, Guardians of Nimla Ha’ was one of the most ambitious appeals in our history.

Thanks to our supporters, this target was not just met – it was exceeded. An incredible £1.37 million was raised, and we are thrilled to report that our Guatemala partner FUNDAECO has now completed the necessary purchases to triple the size of their Laguna Grande Reserve.

This latest development is the biggest chapter in the history of Laguna Grande since the reserve was first established, with WLT support, in 2009. The benefits it has brought for conservation, climate and communities in that time will now be expanded, thanks to you.

In our new report ([link removed]) , you can read about Laguna Grande’s importance for threatened manatees and birds like the Great Curassow, as well as primates and wild cats, from the Jaguar to the Margay. There’s also information on Laguna Grande’s importance to local Maya Q’eqchi’ communities, as well as updates on FUNDAECO’s new reserve management strategy and wildlife monitoring studies that are helping our partner to better understand the remarkable landscape they steward.

Our report ([link removed]) is also a testament to what we can achieve when we come together through a common cause like Big Match Fortnight. This year, your donations will be matched to triple your gift value for the very first time, as we take action against the global biodiversity crisis.

Introducing our upcoming Big Match Fortnight appeal:

Taking place 12 – 26 October 2022, this year’s Big Match Fortnight will fund the expansion of two reserves in a tropical watershed, a true haven for biodiversity. Close to 100 species have been discovered here in less than two decades – frogs, toads, orchids and magnolias among them – almost all of them found nowhere else on Earth.

Our £1.5 million appeal aims to double the amount of land protected by the two reserves, connecting them for the first time through a national park that lies between. This will hand a vital lifeline not only to the species mentioned above, but also to far-roaming wildlife currently under threat, including an iconic big cat and multiple EDGE ([link removed]) (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) species.

The properties our partner wishes to purchase are under increasing pressure from extractive industries. If we do not act, the precious forests that harbour so much life here could be cleared for timber, cattle pasture, balsa wood plantations or even a proposed oil extraction project. Every hectare here is precious, and every felled tree has the potential to send highly specialised species spiralling towards extinction. Together, we have the chance to save a unique landscape from this fate.

Keep an eye on our website and social media channels for more information about Life on the Edge. We hope you’ll join us in saving one of the planet’s most biodiverse places this October!

Back to school:

Get the kids engaged with conservation through Operation Ocelot

Launched in the summer of 2021, the premise behind Operation Ocelot is a simple one: measure a space like a school or playground, find out how much it would cost to buy an area of the same size in a WLT project area, and then raise funds to make it a reality!

Last year, [hundreds of kids] took part in Operation Ocelot’s first mission, in support of the Guardians of Nimla Ha’ appeal. With the new school year now underway, WLT and our Patron Steve Backshall are hoping to recruit yet more aspiring young conservationists, and we need your help to do it!

The site for mission two of Operation Ocelot is every bit as spectacular as the habitat we saved last year in Caribbean Guatemala. Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is a place of stunning biodiversity, with as many as 400 tree species per hectare. However, just 7% of it remains, making it one of the world’s most threatened forest regions.

By taking part in Operation Ocelot, your children, nieces, nephews, students and Scout groups can help to expand our partner REGUA’s reserve, providing a home for Southern Woolly Spider Monkeys (a Critically Endangered species) and preventing forest from being converted to cattle pasture.

Check out our Operation Ocelot webpage ([link removed]) and this news story ([link removed]) to find out all you need to know!
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