What is it?

The Lost World Project is a unique not for profit initiative led by Ibex Earth that aims to generate funding over the next five years to help the urgent conservation needs of one of the world's most remarkable regions - the Guiana Highlands (located in northern South America, extending from Venezuela into Guyana and northern Brazil).

The tablelands of the Guiana Highlands are among the most spectacular, yet least explored, mountains of our world. Each is an immense sandstone plateau that is encircled on all sides by gigantic vertical cliffs up to 1,000 metres tall. The summits of these unique mountains have remained isolated for millions of years, and today harbour plants, animals and landscapes that occur nowhere else on Earth.

The focus of The Lost World Project is Mount Roraima - the plateau that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write one of the most famous adventure novels of all time ‘The Lost World', and has most recently been credited as being the major influence behind Disney Pixar's animated blockbuster ‘UP'.

The Lost World Project project has four main goals:

-          Raise funds to directly support local efforts to conserve Mount Roraima and the lost worlds of the Guiana Highlands of South America. US $11,000 has already been raised and donated to this cause during our first year (2010). We hope to increase this many times in 2011.

-          Dramatically raise awareness of the environmental uniqueness of Mount Roraima and the lost worlds of the Guiana Highlands, and the threats this special part of our world faces. The Lost World Project documentary is our primary tool for spreading these messages.

-          Secure international protection status for Mount Roraima - the mountain which inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's ‘lost world'

-           Put in place the infrastructure and training required for local communities to sustainably protect and safeguard the lost world for the long term

Without action now, illegal gold mining, unregulated / unsustainable tourism, and the introduction of foreign plant and animal species will jeopardise the future of Mount Roraima and the Guiana Highlands. Without The Lost World Project and your help the incredible animals, plants and landscapes that have remained unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs will struggle to survive in the world of tomorrow.

What we have accomplished

2010 saw the first year of the Lost World Project, and Ibex Earth raising and donating US $11,000 to directly support the conservation of the Guiana Highlands and the conservation of Mount Roraima. We aimed funding through three avenues:

1. Through the Lost World Project, we were able to donate US $3,000 to support the Venezuelan National Parks institute (Inparques, La Luepa branch). This money was used to repair the park authority's patrol vehicles, which had been lying idle due to disrepair. Through this grant, the local authorities will be better prepared to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Guiana Highlands and continue their work safeguarding the Lost Worlds.

2. The Lost World Project also offered the opportunity to build successful relationships with communities in need across the Guiana Highlands. Local communities hold the key to protecting the fragile landscape of the lost worlds, and so are an intrinsic part in securing a sustainable future for Lost Worlds. As such, Ibex Earth donated US $2,000 to support sustainable development projects in the impoverished Amerindian village of Paratepui, located close to the base of the majestic Mount Roraima where the Lost World Project took place.

3. To further our goal of raising awareness of need for the conservation of the Lost Worlds and their wildlife, Ibex Earth engaged thirty Amerindians from the Gran Sabana to be involved in the Lost World Project and participate in developing an understanding of the need for the conservation of Mount Roraima. Through engaging with Lost World Project participants, and through discussion, training and interviews, we aimed to contribute to developing local conservation awareness, and in the process, contributed US $6,000 in wages to support the developing sustainable tourism industry that holds the key to a secure future.

Additionally, in order raise awareness of the need to conserve the region, the Lost World Project set out to produce a non-profit conservation documentary to highlight the importance of Mount Roraima and the need for regional protection. In August and September 2010, we sent ten students from across the UK to the Guiana Highlands along with a critically acclaimed film crew. The group filmed the unique wildlife, landscapes and threats of the Lost World for two weeks, and the resultant footage is currently being edited into a fifty minute, broadcast quality documentary that will then be premiered at two high profile and prestigious events at two of London's most famous venues - the Royal Geographical Society and the Zoological Society of London in June 2011. The film will then be broadcast to a global television audiences, raising awareness of this unique region to millions of viewers 

PREMIERE OF THE LOST WORLD - INTRODUCED BY MICHAEL PALIN

Tuesday 13th September 2011

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London

Join Ibex Earth at the Royal Geographical Society on Tuesday 13th September 2011 for the Premiere of 'The Lost World' - a fifty minute documentary about Mount Roraima, the South American plateau that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous novel 'The Lost World' and has most recently been accredited as being the major influence behind Disney Pixar's 2009 animated blockbuster 'UP'.

The film aims to highlight the pressing environmental concerns that are currently facing Mount Roraima and the Guiana Highlands, which include, illegal gold-mining, unsustainable/unregulated tourism and the introduction of foreign plant and animal species to a land that has remained largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs.

The film includes some world exclusive footage of the moment Jimmie Angel discovered the legendary Angel Falls in 1933 and a short overview of the Lost World Project can be viewed by following the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nsTbssZzP0

We are delighted to announce that Michael Palin will be introducing the film at the Premiere and he will be joined by Sir David Attenborough (if filming commitments allow) and a number of well known television presenters and personalities.

By attending the Premiere you will be helping to raise money to support local and regional efforts to protect Mount Roraima and the Guiana Highlands, which are home to some of the most unique species on the planet.

Tickets are priced at just £15.00 per person and are available from this website. For further information please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it