When World Land Trust (WLT) was born in 1989, the world was a simpler place. It was the year the World Wide Web was invented. It was the year that the Berlin Wall came down. It was the year the first GPS satellite went into orbit. Aluminium can recycling got underway and claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’ and ‘cruelty free’ started to become catchy slogans.
To the founders of WLT, 1989 felt like a very special year when anything was possible: communications, freedom, discovery and environmental awakening – it seemed a good time to pioneer land purchase and protection, starting in a forest in Belize.
110,000 acres of rich tropical forest, to be precise – all about to be chopped down to make way for the rise of monoculture and cattle farming that was sweeping through Belize.