Story
Hi I'm Sam. I'm a 21-year-old biology student and aspiring career conservationist.
For a while now, I've felt the urge to walk the approximately 1,215-mile route from Land's End to John o' Groats (or the other way around), but have never either had the time or felt I had an overall reason for doing it, apart from for my own personal gain. This leads me to why I am fundraising.
In the summer of 2025, I was lucky enough to spend around a month in Costa Rica, where I spent time in a fragmented section of tropical rainforest, owned monitored by the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy (a non-profit organisation). Here, I volunteered as a research assistant to help collect data points of primate species for research that will support aims to establish a rainforest corridor across the country. During my time at the station, I was able to see first-hand the incredible biodiversity that these forests hold, and gained a much deeper understanding of the extent to which species are affected by forest fragmentation and habitat degradation, with species often competing for resources in this relatively small area, and unable to move on due to the vast swathes of open farmland offering little protection from predation (and poaching). It is vital that work is done to protect the ever-declining biodiverse habitats such as that of La Suerte Biological Field Station (pictured below).
Caribbean red-eyed tree frog (La Suerte Biological Field Station, Costa Rica):
Edge of the fragmented rainforest- palm oil plantation (La Suerte Biological Field Station, Costa Rica):
Buttress tree roots in the rainforest (La Suerte Biological Field Station, Costa Rica):
(More information about the MRC if you would like to support them: https://maderasrfc.org)
The World Land Trust seemed a perfect fundraising candidate for this walk. It is a UK-based charity, and has already successfully protected over 1,340,393 hectares (3,312,183 acres) of forest and other environments (as of writing this) from the growing threat of habitat destruction over Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America. The charity operates by purchasing land in or around forests (or other environments) for both protection and restoration, and uses community engagement to ensure the correct models are fit for both the community and environment. Any money I raise will go directly to their action fund, which offers flexible support to their conservation partners around the world to fund essential work- from land purchase to defence against wildfires, to the employment of experienced rangers on the ground. The work that they do is fundamental to the conservation of the fast-declining biodiversity of our unique planet.
I aim to document my journey, along with raising awareness on conservation issues the world faces through a comparison with our own country. I hope my documentation will draw attention to the extent of which the UK (and habitats across the world) has faced (and are facing) major environmental degradation, along with appreciation for the nature we still have here, and what can be done to improve biodiversity. I will aim to put an emphasis on the importance of the natural world and the reasons it needs to be protected using fact.
This will be a huge challenge for me, even with my experience of walking long-distance trails (such as the Portuguese coastal trail and Ridgeway) and shorter hiking trails solo. So, any donations to the World Land Trust will be much appreciated as this will be a massive motivational factor.
The route from Land's End to John o' Groats I will be taking averages 20 miles a day over 61 days (not including detours), and will include sections of the South West Coast path, The Heart of England Way, The Cotswold Way, the Pennine Way, Hadrians Wall Path and the West Highland Way. Camping will be my primary form of accommodation. I started this on the 11th of June and aim to finish in mid August 2026.
Any donations to the World Land Trust will be massively appreciated. If you are unable to donate; sharing this page, and sharing the work of the World Land Trust will also help a lot. Any updates will be posted on this page if you choose to follow along. Thanks for reading.
More information about the World Land Trust:
World Land Trust (WLT) protects the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats.
Through a network of 52 partners around the world, WLT funds the creation of reserves and provides permanent protection for habitats and wildlife. Partnerships are developed with established and highly respected local organisations who engage support and commitment among the local community.
To date, WLT has funded the protection of over 2.9 million acres, the planting of more than 3.1 million trees and the protection of over 13,066 species.