As a part of the National Giving Week in the UK I received a communication from the World Land Trust (WLT) that I wanted to pass on to you. The World Land Trust is one of the foremost conservation charities in the world. It works to "preserve the world's most biologically important and threatened lands" through the purchase of these lands in conjunction with local conservation organizations. Several of their projects are in Ecuador, Belize, Brazil and Costa Rica in areas rich in native orchids.

It is becoming more and more apparent to conservationists that preserving existing habitat from destruction is the most important way to keep biodiversity. Once a virgin rainforest has been cut down, burned and planted for a couple of seasons the time it takes to renew the environment is counted in centuries. In the meantime, both the vegetation and its attendant animal life are disbursed or eliminated entirely. It is almost impossible to bring it back to the original state. Preserving the rainforests is one of the most important of the World Land Trust 's projects. Another is the reforestation of already cleared areas by replanting funded by their Carbon Balancing efforts -- offset your use of energy by providing monies to reforest.

The World Land Trust has some innovative ways to raise money and I'd like all of you to think about donating. A ₤25 or approximately $50 donation will purchase a hectare or about 2.5 acres, of rainforest. In addition to straight donations via the web, starting October 16 through October 22, there is an eBay auction for charity of wonderful artwork by a number of well known artists who have donated items. If you enjoy lovely nature art, you will certainly want to look at these items.

There are several other ways to get involved in the organization also. They have partnered with eBay and MissionFish to allow sellers to donate the proceeds from sales to the World Land Trust. All items designated to go to the charity are so designated on eBay so that those who are looking to help others will specifically see your items marked.

There is a nice series of Christmas cards with stunning wildlife artwork by Bruce Pearson and Bob Linney this year Christmas Cards.

Green Ink is a World Land Trust project that I'm particularly interested in because it involves authors, illustrators and editors. Although limited to those living in the EU, it provides to the WLT the proceeds of Public Lending Rights for books checked out from public libraries in the UK. Most authors do not even bother to get the proceeds since it is approximately ₤10 to ₤25 per year per title, but this provides a great source of income for the trust. They will do all the paperwork for you. Further information is available at Green Ink.