Acting on its tagline of "Saving Land, Saving Species", the trust raises money to buy and then protect environmentally-threatened land, and therefore species, in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

The trust was founded in 1989 as the Programme for Belize to raise money to privately buy land in Belize to protect tropical rain forests in collaboration with Massachusetts Audubon Society.

[1] John Burton was chief executive for thirty years until 2019, when Catherine Barnard took over.

[2] The Trust has since developed to help purchase and conserve land in 30 countries worldwide and had an annual income of £10 million in 2023.

[3] Supporters include Bill Oddie, Tony Hawks, Mark Carwardine and Nick Baker.