Days worth building real work around

2 February every year

Marks the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands and draws attention to marshes, bogs, springs, and coastal wetlands as working habitat.

One thing to do: Walk a local wetland or creek and record what you see; if a volunteer group maintains it, join one work day.

Whooping CraneHouston ToadPiping Plover

Organized by Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar) / United Nations. Source

Third Saturday in February every year

A single day each year devoted to the world's most trafficked wild mammals, and to the people working to stop that trade.

One thing to do: Teach one group of people what a pangolin actually is, and that its scales are keratin — the same material as fingernails.

Sunda PangolinChinese PangolinTemminck's Ground Pangolin

Organized by World Pangolin Day campaign, supported by pangolin conservation organizations. Source · Full page on this site

3 March every year

United Nations day for wild animals and plants, marking the signing of CITES, the treaty governing international trade in wild species.

One thing to do: Read one species profile with a child or a class and follow the trade or habitat thread behind it.

Sunda PangolinAmur LeopardSumatran Orangutan

Organized by United Nations (CITES Secretariat). Source

22 April every year

The broadest environmental observance of the year, and the easiest to attach real local work to.

One thing to do: Organize a creek or roadside cleanup, or plant a native patch that someone has agreed to maintain afterwards.

Organized by EARTHDAY.ORG. Source

Second Saturday in May (Canada and the United States) and the second Saturday in October (Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean)

A twice-yearly campaign timed to the two great migration seasons, focused on the habitat birds need at both ends of a journey and everywhere between.

One thing to do: Turn off unnecessary night lighting during migration, keep cats indoors, and make one window collision-safe.

Rufa Red KnotPiping PloverPurple MartinChimney Swift

Organized by Environment for the Americas with UN Environment treaty partners. Source

20 May every year

A United Nations observance for bees and other pollinators, and for the food systems that depend on them.

One thing to do: Leave one area unmowed through the flowering season and plant natives that bloom early and late.

Rusty Patched Bumble BeeWestern Bumble BeeFranklin's Bumble Bee

Organized by United Nations / Food and Agriculture Organization. Source

Third Friday in May every year

Started in 2006 by the United States Congress, and now marked internationally by zoos, refuges, schools, parks, and libraries.

One thing to do: Pick one listed species near you, learn why it was listed, and support the habitat work already underway for it.

Black-footed FerretWhooping CraneCalifornia Condor

Organized by Endangered Species Coalition. Source · Full page on this site

23 May every year

A day for turtles and tortoises, founded by American Tortoise Rescue.

One thing to do: Never take a wild turtle home, and help one cross a road in the direction it was already heading.

Eastern Box TurtleGopher TortoiseGreen Sea TurtleKemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

Organized by American Tortoise Rescue. Source

5 June every year

The United Nations' principal day for environmental action, with a theme set each year.

One thing to do: Match the year's theme to one measurable local project rather than a statement.

Organized by United Nations Environment Programme. Source

8 June every year

A United Nations day for ocean health, fisheries, and the species that depend on both.

One thing to do: Run an inland cleanup: most ocean litter starts at a storm drain a long way from the coast.

Kemp's Ridley Sea TurtleNorth Atlantic Right WhaleElkhorn Coral

Organized by United Nations. Source

12 August every year

Launched in 2012 for Asian and African elephants and the pressures they face.

One thing to do: Support anti-trafficking and habitat-corridor work rather than captive attractions.

African Forest Elephant

Organized by World Elephant Day. Source

22 September every year

Celebrates all five rhinoceros species — black, white, greater one-horned, Sumatran, and Javan.

One thing to do: Learn which rhino is rarest and where the last population actually lives.

Javan Rhinoceros

Organized by World Rhino Day, first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010. Source

24–31 October every year

An international week for bats, their role in insect control and pollination, and the diseases and habitat loss pressing on them.

One thing to do: Avoid disturbing roosts and caves, and support white-nose syndrome research and monitoring.

Tricolored BatLittle Brown BatMexican Long-nosed BatMexican Free-tailed Bat

Organized by Bat Week, organized by North American conservation organizations and agencies. Source

A full Monday-to-Sunday week in late June, announced each year by Pollinator Partnership

A week of pollinator events and planting, organized internationally by Pollinator Partnership.

One thing to do: Plant a native pollinator patch and commit to leaving the stems standing over winter.

Monarch ButterflyKarner Blue ButterflyRegal Fritillary

Organized by Pollinator Partnership. Source