How Healthy Planet Guardian works behind the scenes

Does my plot & park really get the money?

It certainly does. From research we have found people who give to charities are worried whether the money they donate really gets to the right place. And not being able to control or see exactly where it goes adds to their worries.

Because of this we have made sure there is an open-ness in everything we do. You are as much a part of the park as the Park Authorities and Healthy Planet. All of our parks are either protected areas or are of special interest to the future of our children.


What happens to my money?

Over 90% of your net donation* goes straight into a pot – there is one pot for each park and that pot is only for that park. Healthy Planet itself also tops up these pots whenever possible.

However, Healthy Planet and you are not actually buying the land. So none of the money is diverted to a salesman or a landowner who is just interested in selling for the money and for the “now”. This means your money is going to sponsor the park itself. Rather than raising money for the short-term by selling or changing the landscape, the way we raise and pass money to the park, supports and encourages an attitude of thinking about the long-term sustainability of the park and its people.

The other benefit is that the local community is more likely to stay as the landowner. They are easier to contact and their day job is to look after the park’s sustainability. This way of helping is a far more effective, long-term solution than just buying up land because the new owner does not typically stay involved nor stay in touch with the local issues and choices.

How can I stay involved?

From your armchair, you can be as active or as inactive as you want, and still help your park. Your park’s community section shows the reports and communications between you, your fellow supporters of the park and the people actually in the park and on the projects. You can


Who manages the money?

Healthy Planet manages the money and approves the applications made by the local Park authorities and other organizations, who want to improve the sustainability in your park. We have strict criteria before we agree to hand over any money.

When does the park get the money?

The applications are assessed by the trustees at Healthy Planet and if successful, the pot of money for the park is sent to them in annual instalments. This way you and we can keep an eye on what happens each year through the images of the park plus they have to report back to us at least once a year before they get the next instalment of money.

You can see these reports and give feedback. As well as reducing the risk of wasting the money, the park gets a steady income stream, which makes it easier for them to plan and carry out longer-term, more sustainable projects because they know there is a longer-term partnership with Healthy Planet and you. This may seem strange, but the way they need to be run and set budgets, having certainty about how much money to expect and when, opens up a new world of more sustainable possibilities.

After allowing a suitable time for grant applications to come in, if no suitable project is available from that specific park, Healthy Planet can, at its sole discretion, allocate the pot to another park in the same country. After even more time, if there is still no suitable project, this can be allocated to another country in the same continent. This way your money is not sitting around, but more likely, to be improving sustainability.

Surely there must be some more small print?

Well, there is one more thing and we are sure you will understand.
Each plot is 1 square kilometre in size. This is 247 acres. We’ve chosen this level because it gives us the best satellite images on the web for you to enjoy, without us having to spend thousands of pounds getting images that have great resolution zooming right down to the acre. This way, more money goes to the parks and arrives quicker as there are less costs to repay first. One day, when we have sponsors for nearly all the 1 sq km plots and the price of the satellite images comes down, we will reduce the plot size you have from 1 square kilometre, down to 1 acre. We are planning to do this for a good reason.

At Healthy Planet, we share the same goal as you – to improve the sustainability of the park; by doing this, more plots are available in the same park and therefore, more money will become available to the park for its future. Your Healthy Planet Guardian Experience and the marker with your dedication on it will be unchanged in detail, but you can get closer to the ground – literally. We will contact you when the improved resolution and rescaling is about to happen.

*Net donation: This is the donation you have paid after costs directly attributable to the Healthy Planet Zoom Experience e.g. bank/card charges. In the case of “forever” plots, we will buy an annuity using the money you give, to create a steady income stream for the park.

The remainder of the net donation is for the Healthy Planet Foundation charity itself. This can be spent on: