World Ranger Day is on 31st July 

Around the world there are many people who put their lives on the line every day to protect endangered animals and habitats.

The International Ranger Foundation (IRF) is the official body representing rangers around the world.  It was established on 31st July 1992, after a year spent setting up and planning for the establishment and development of the organisation.  The aim now is to drive through this development so that there is a professional body of rangers around the world.  It's based in Australia.  In the UK, take a look at Working for the Wild.  They are a a UK registered charity and they're dedicated "to protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystems worldwide through grass roots community based conservation and wildlife ranger support".
 

Rangers vs Poachers: The Fight to Save Africa's Elephants
 Guardians, BBC Earth
Please take a look at the other videos about rangers on BBC Earth's You Tube Channel
and see the trailer to the series "Guardians" here.

THANK YOU to rangers, everywhere. 

So the theme for World Ranger Day 2026 is:   

Rangers, Guardians of a Changing Planet

Visit the Thin Green Line Foundation here.

Visit Working for the Wild  (UK) here.

Please support World Ranger Day on social media with hashtags:

• #WorldRangerDay2026
• #WorldRangerDay
• #WildlifeRangers
• #RangersDeserveMore
• #IStandWithRangers
• #IAmARanger
• #Rangers:GuardiansofaChangingPlanet

The International Ranger Federation has a toolkit on online that we can use, sharing with the hashtags above.  There is a lot of information about rangers on their website, so please explore their website.   It works with The Thin Green Line to promote the initiative of World Ranger Day. 

Take a look at the "I am a ranger" video on You Tube here from the IRF
It introduces rangers from different parts of the world.

This video is from the Kenya Wildlife Service

World Ranger Day is a chance for all of us to show our appreciation for the work that wildlife rangers and guardians do and offer our support in whatever way we can and to remember those who have died or been injured doing this vital work and to think of the families they leave behind. 

The Thin Green Line Foundation says that often rangers' families are left behind without any support.  Donations and support give a gift of hope and an urgent lifeline to families left behind.  

And it’s good to know that there is something you can do to help wildlife and locals in their communities at the same time, and we thought we’d do a roundup of charities and organisations working to help in this way.  Sometimes wildlife rangers are called wildlife guardians.

 Celebrating our Rangers 
Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association

Let us thank the rangers everywhere who are protecting 
wildlife and habitats, and let us thank their families too.

Visit 2026 World Ranger Day's website here.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge on 19th September 2026

This is a chance to show just how diverse the work rangers do really is!  This 21km half marathon is on 19th September 2026 and it's in its 7th year.  Over 100 ranger teams who span the varied, diverse terrains of the protected areas in Africa, will take part and compete in a 21km race across their respective landscapes.  They will carry the heavy packs that they carry when they are out on patrol.  The event will really raise awreness of why rangers matter, the challenges they face, and to raise funds for frontline conservation efforts.  It also helps unite those taking part across Africa. 

#ForWildlifeRangers

Find out more by watching this short video, and visiting the event's website - please give the event your support! 

African Parks
African Parks have a fundraiser called Back the Ranger, Beat the Snares.   Every snare removed gives wildlife a better chance of survival - $10 covers one snare.  Find out more and please donate here.

Please also visit their It Takes a Ranger page to get an idea of what it is like to be a ranger.   Rangers support, listen, learn, inspire, choose, challenge expectations, conserve and uncover what others cannot see.   Find out more about incredible rangers and their role. 

The Thin Green Line Foundation

The Foundation works with ranger groups, ranger associations and conservation partners in over 60 countries.  They say it’s estimated that over 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years. They are dedicated to providing Rangers worldwide with the assistance they deserve and need.  They have a very moving Roll of Honour, with the names of all the rangers who lost their lives between June 2025 and May 2026.  They have a toolkit you can download.  

In the UK, there's Working for the Wild and you can visit their website here.

Other organisations supporting wildlife rangers

Ol Pejeta
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Kenya.  They have 171 rangers who are dedicated to protecting the wildlife there and neighbouring communities.  They also have a K9 unit, whose dogs work hard also to protect wildlife.  You can sponsor a ranger here.

Project Ranger

Project Ranger aims to support those on the front lines of conservation.  It fills vital gaps and supports wildlife monitors, rangers and anti-poaching operations of conservation organisations and NGOs in Africa.  There are plenty of ways to support their work so visit their website to find out more!  If you're an art lover, you could buy some of their amazing art to help raise funds! 

The World Land Trust

The World Land Trust has a Keepers of the Wild initiative.  The rangers are working on the front line of conservation, safeguarding some of the world’s most threatened animals and the crucial habitats in which they live.  They protect reserves from poaching and logging, and importantly, link to local communities, building trust, helping to change attitudes and find practical solutions to problems.  You can support Keepers of the Wild by making a donation. 

Take a look at WLT's video about Jerry,  a ranger with the Trust's partner Environmental Defenders in Uganda. 

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation works to support rangers in both Asia and Africa. You can support wildlife rangers here and help them conserve nature.  Their work includes carrying out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols across national parks, finding and removing wildlife snares and collecting essential data on endangered speices and their habitats.   They also work with communities to raise awareness and mitigate wildlife conflict. 

The Global Conservation Force

This organisation works to save wildlife from extinction through education, anti-poaching and conservation efforts.  It does this by using anti-poaching units, awareness and education and on the ground action, working on wildlife’s problems.  You can adopt a ranger (also there’s a K9 poacher tracking unit) – find out what the options are to adopt a ranger here.

Virunga 

Virunga National Park is located on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin in Africa, and it's home to over 1,000 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian and a third of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. It has over 800 male and female rangers, all working hard and putting their lives on the line to protect the park and local communities. There's a canine unit as well.  Find out more

The Gorilla Organisation

The Gorilla Organisation has a supporting rangers scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they act as the eyes, ears and voice of the forest. They cut snaes, save injured gorillas, combat the militias running the blood minerals trade, monitor the gorillas’ health and collect vital conservation data every day.  Find out more here.

Tigers4ever

Tigers4ever have anti-poaching patrols in Bandharvagh, India, to protect tigers.  They equip forest patrols, provide anti-poaching patrols and provide permanent solutions to water scarcity for wildlife.  Find out more here. 

Orangutan Foundation

Become an Orangutan Guardian and help the Orangutan Foundation’s 60 Indonesian staff work on the frontline of conservation in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.  Their role is to guard and patrol the forests and rivers, to rescue and monitor the orangutans and to replant and nurture tree saplings.  And crucially, they need to gain the trust and support of local communities.  Become an Orangutan Guardian!

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

The Lewa Security Team consists of field rangers, radio operators, gatekeepers, baby rhino keepers, anti-poaching rangers and the tracker dog unit.   The Anti-Poaching Rangers and Tracker Dog Unit work day and night to protect wildlife and keep them safe, especially rhinos and elephants.  The tracker dog unit has four dogs and their handlers, the dogs act as efficient trackers, as they can pursue suspects for lengthy distances.

Save the Rhino

Save the Rhino makes sure that ranger teams have the the equipment they need to do their job as safely as possible.  It has expanded canine units across the projects it funds, which in turn helps apprehend criminals.  Find out more from Save the Rhino

Tusk

The charity Tusk give a Wildlife Ranger Award every year to give international recognition to the men and women who face danger every day to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems in Africa.  

Snow Leopard Trust

Back in 2014,  the Snow Leopard Trust and the Kyrgyz government launched the Citizen Ranger Wildlife Protection Programme. It empowers rangers and citizens to step up against poachers.  It also hightens the rangers' profile as defenders of the natural heritage and creates a public forum for discussion. If you're a lover of snow leopards, the Snow Leopard Trust has a fundraiser for World Ranger Day 2026.  At the time of writing, they have hit their target but all additional donations will help rangers strengthen their ability to fight illegal wildlife trade.  Find out more here.

There are also rangers in other countries such as Australia and America and the UK, working for organisations such as national parks and they are also essential to protecting the environment and keeping wildlife safe.

And a very big thank you to each and every wildlife ranger working to care for and protect our wildlife and their habitats.  And thank you to their families too.  

Please everyone show you support them too.  

The WWF Malaysia report that sadly there are only about 150 Malayan tigers left in Malaysia - there used to be 3,000 in the forests there in the 1950s. 

#KeepRoaring for the Malayan tiger.

As WWF Malaysia point, out, we all need healthy forests - and forests need tigers.  The problem is that tigers are threatened by poaching, the illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss (this is because of deforestation and fragmentation) and a lack of food for the tigers as their prey has been over-hunted.

To tackle these challenges, WWF Malaysia has been conducting patrolling in Belum-Temengor.  It monitors poaching hotspots and then sends vital information to enforcement agencies, who can then patrol more ground.  By patrolling more ground, they can discover more threats, remove snares and arrest poachers - these not only helps the tigers, but other animals too. 

#KeepRoaring to save Malayan tigers, save our forests, and save ourselves by taking action and donating if you can.

Donations will help WWF-Malaysia to support wages for field assisstants to patrol and do camera-trapping so that they can see how many tigers are in an area.  It will also give daily rations to those doing the patrolling work, and buy the necessary camping equipment they need to carry out field surveys.  Of course, there are logistics and transport costs.   And successful conservation efforts need the community on board, so donations help support awareness and communication drives. 

Crucially, WWF-Malaysia is working with the Malaysian Government.  To secure a future for all the biodiversity in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, there's a need for long-term solutions that are sustainable, if the stunning tigers of Malaysia are to have a future.

Meantime, we can all do our bit.  WWF-Malaysia is asking us all to donate, to learn about tigers, to spread the word, and to pledge to save the Malayan tiger from extinction. 

PLEDGE FOR TIGERS HERE

(and don't forget, it's World Rangers Day on the 31st July). 

 Visit the World Rainforest Day's website

The 22^nd June is World Rainforests Day.  Rainforests are vital for life to survive on Earth.   Their loss  threatens our biodiversity and imperils earth’s health. We ignore this loss at our peril.

World Rainforest Day was founded back in 2017 by the Rainforest Partnership.  It celebrates the importance of healthy, standing rainforests for climate, biodiversity, culture and livelihoods.  Crucially, it convenes a global movement to protect them and restore them.  The Pledge programme mentioned below is launching in 2024 to drive rainforest and climate action across all sectors immediately.  

Natural climate solutions such as protecting and restoring forests could reverse global emissions by a third, according to World Rainforest Day.

This day is held to celebrate rainforests and encourage us all to protect them.  If we can all unite and become a forest of action that rains on earth, then we can make a huge difference.  Wherever you are in the world, rainforests are impacting you.  And there's something all of us can to to help with rainforest protection and appreciation. 

In 2026, the theme is  The Forest Within You

In 2026, World Rainforest Day is aiming "to reignite and amplify global appreciation for rainforests through three key calls to action."

One of these calls is to join the global video campaign reflecting on your connection to rainforests or what this year's theme means to you.  There's a global toolkit to help you, plus a prompts guide.  For instance, you could think about... 

your connection to rainforests, wherever you live

Your wellbeing - you could talk about the role nature plays in your wellbeing

How your daily choices reflect care for the planet

A memory - perhaps there's a moment, palce or tree which represents your "inner forest"

Perhaps there's a story from your local area, or folklore or ancestralknowledge which reflects long and cherished connection to forests

Share your video on social media, using tags #WorldRainforestDay + #WorldRainforestDay2026

There's information about this and legal bits on the World Rainforest Day's website here.  

The website has other ways you can get involved, such as:

• get your hands dirty and volunteer with a rainforest organisation
• go greener with your food - try vegan or vegetarian for one day this week or every week
• Find out more about climate change and nature driven solutions.   Be inspired by the winners and finalists of the Earthshot Prize - there are some amazing things going on to help nature 
• Discover more about those organisations helping rainforests.  You can see the list of partners of World Rainforest Day here - why not see how many you recognise and find out about those you don't?  
  
  

#WorldRainforestDay

Be a Planet Walker - take yourself through a forest or park or trail.  Share your journey on social media.  Why not explain what nature and these forests or parks mean to you and how they benefit your wellbeing? 

The World Rainforest Day website has these things we can all do to make a positive impact on rainforests, today and every day:

Ways to help rainforests

• Volunteer for a rainforest charity!  Many charities need help not just from a practical sense but also in the "back office" with those behind-the-scenes but essential tasks.
• Vote with nature in mind!   Show leaders that you care about our natural world and want to preserve it.
• Choose local products and ask about where items are sourced.   Many rainforests are cut down for agriculture and cattle ranching.  Go meat free one day a week if you can.  
• Find out about the different fauna and flora in rainforests, such as lichen.  The British Lichen Society has this great video about it from one of Dartmoor's temperate rainforests
• Take a look at Global Forest Watch.  It is a fascinating site and it provides tools and data for monitoring forests.  For instance, you can see the alerts for forests fires 
• Discover about temperate rainforests, too!  The Woodland Trust has 8 rainforests to explore in the UK - check them out here.
• Share your discoveries and what is being done to help rainforests on social media.   We need to show people that there is a lot going on - and that people can and do make a difference.
• Visit , Rainforest Rescuewhose mission is to give the rainforest a voice and preserve it in all its splendor.   It has petitions you can sign to give rainforests your voice, and projects it runs to protect them, thanks to donor support.  The petitions expose destructive projects and name the perpetrators, so they are important.
• There are many charities you can donate to to help rainforests such as the  World Land Trust.    £100 is one acre protected, but you don't have to give £100.  Every bit helps! They have an Action Fund which enables them to respond fast when urgent conservation action is needed - find out about that here.  They have a current appeal to help orangutans in Borneo which you could spread the word about (and donate to, if you can).  
• You could read the story I wrote about an orangutan and a tiger called Where has my home gone?  

 Find out more from World Rainforest Day’s website.   

#WorldRainforestDay #WorldRainforestDay2026

The 2^nd February is World Wetlands Day.  The day aims to raise awareness about wetlands, and it marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, which was adopted as an international treaty back in 1971.  Back in 1971 on 2 February, the Convention on Wetlands was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar which sits on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

What are wetlands?

Wetlands cover areas such as shores, estuaries, mudflats, floodplains, coastal marshes, local ponds, the bog and pond in your garden, mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, and rivers.  They cover a very small of the earth’s surface – and yet they are one of the most important habitats on our planet.  WWT has lots of information about these areas - you can click to see it here.

"If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, then wetlands are the lifeblood.  As much as we need air to breathe, we need water to live.   The conservation of our wetlands is essential to all life on earth.”  

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT)

In 2026, the theme is Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge:  Celebrating cultural heritage

#CelebratingWetlands
#Wetlands and Cultural Heritage

Raising awareness is critical – most people have heard of forests and rainforests, but fewer have heard of wetlands.  Yet they are vital ecosystems.  Despite this, the World Wetlands Day website explains that, since the 1700s, almost 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s.   And we’re losing wetlands 3x faster than forests.  

A recent global IPBES assessment identified wetlands as the most threatened ecosystem. This impacts 40% of the world’s plant and animal species that live or breed in wetlands.

What are the threats to wetlands?

• Habitat loss:  many thousands of hectares have been drained for land  by humans for their purposes of housing, industry and agriculture
• Pollution:  WWT says that 80% of global wastewater gets released into wetlands without being treated.  Wetlands are under threat from pollution, fertilisers, pesticides – and yet wetlands can act as natural filters, removing pollutants from the water.
• Invasive species such as the common water hyacinth and animals (e.g. the killer shrimp) devastate wetlands. Unfortunately, water provides easy pathways for them to spread and grow.
• Our changing climate can cause wetlands to dry out – and this can have a terrible impact on amphibians, migratory birds and corals  for instance. But wetlands are carbon sinks – when we destroy wetlands, carbon gets released into the atmosphere. 
• Development, such as dams, and draining
  
  

Why wetlands matter to people:

• They provide us with drinking water
• They store a third of the world’s carbon emissions
• They buffer us from floods and droughts
• They are important for our health and wellbeing

Why do wetlands matter to wildlife?

40% of all plant and animal species live or breed here.

They are vital breeding and feeding grounds for migratory birds – stopover points, if you like. Banc d’Arguin National Park (Mauritania) is one of the most important zones in the world for nesting birds and Palearctic migratory waders, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase I) (China).  These birds use wetlands such as our coastlines to stop, moult, rest, winter or nest.  

Pantanal Conservation Area (Brazil) is one of the world's largest freshwater wetland ecosystems.

Sundarbans National Park (India) is formed of tidal rivers, creeks and canals and supports species such as the single largest population of tiger, and aquatic mammals such as the Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins, all under threat.

Mud, mud, glorious mud
The power of mud....Preventing climate change
Watch this video from WWT on You Tube 
to find out what mud can do to combat climate change

So what can we all do to help wetland conservation?

 WWT can create new wetlands in a few months and years – so your support can really make a difference quickly.  But there’s something we can all do to help and you’ll find more links and further resources further down. 

• Find out why they matter to people and wildlife.
• See what you can do at home to help wildlife.  Create a (mini) pond in your garden, local area or school - WWT or the RSPB can show you how
• Visit a wetland close to you if there is one, and spend time there.   Use your senses while you visit.  Listen to the sounds you can hear; look at the sights, smell the scents.  Connect with them.
• Find out which of your local conservation charities are working to protect and restore wetlands.  How can you get involved and support them?  Many of them will be working on projects which you may be able to get involved with. This could be by volunteering, donating, buying something from their online shop, becoming a member, spreading the word about them - there are lots of ways to help. 
• #WetlandBiodiversityMatters to see what’s happening
• Support an appeal for wetlands somewhere in the world
• Make a pledge to act for wetlands 
  
  

You can create your own wetland in your garden...
Here's how...



Will you make a pledge to protect wetlands?
See pledges already made here - 
and make your own pledge here!

There are a lot of efforts being made to help protect and restore and create wetlands.  For instance, the International Crane Foundation has been working to protect Africa’s wetlands for 30 years.  Find out about their work here.

On this World Wetland Day, they are advocating for:

• Protection of wetlands
• The reduction of human impact to minimise habitat destruction caused by human activity 
• Supporting crane conservation efforts
• Promoting awareness and education
• Encouraging sustainabity
• Advocating for climate change
• Getting involved in citizen science such as birdwatching or local conservation projects to help monitor populations and track their movements - this all helps contribute important details to build up a picture of the status of cranes and other animals

Further Resources

World Wetland Network – a collection of NGOs and Civil Society Groups all working for wetland conservation

Wetland Link International – a support network for wetland education centres which deliver engagement activities on site.  The WWT in the UK lead it; it has 350 members over 6 continents!

RAMSAR –  The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. 

World Wetlands Day – held every year on 2 February to raise awareness of the importance of wetlands and how we can all help

WWT – the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the UK.   Visit one of their 10 sites around the UK and/or visit their website to see how you can get involved.

The MedWet mission is "to ensure and support the effective conservation of the functions and values of Mediterranean wetlands and the sustainable use of their resources and services".  Visit their website here.  The Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative brings together 27 Mediterranean and peri-Mediterranean countries, all of which are Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971). Palestine and several organizations and wetland centres are also part of the MedWet Initiative.

The Global Wetland Outlook – take a look, it’s fascinating reading