More and more wildlife species are becoming threatened or endangered across the world every year. The global insect population is rapidly declining. Rising temperatures and weather changes are affecting animals’ environments and lowering populations. Pollution in rivers, lakes, and oceans is killing fish and other aquatic creatures.

All of these issues are urgent, and all of them can only be solved with the cooperation of the whole world. It is easy to feel discouraged with the state of the world and fall into cynicism. We have all seen how difficult it seems to be for the world to work together for the good of humanity, but instead of focusing on the negatives, I want to highlight wildlife conservation efforts across the world.

Most well known is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This organization operated globally to raise funding and awareness about wildlife conservation, conduct research, and create solutions. They also work with policymakers to change the laws to better protect the environment.

Akashinga is an African organization that focuses on conservation as a social issue. Their goal is to engage communities in conservation efforts to protect the environment and wildlife across Africa. They manage protected land, help to reduce poaching, and increase the wildlife population in Africa. Another important point about the organization is that they purposefully place women at the helm of their efforts. They started as a small group of female rangers who worked against poaching, and now the organization works across several countries and has made major strides towards protecting the African wildlife.

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education focuses on protecting and nurturing the public forest lands in India. They conduct research to improve the forest management in the country, as well as educating private land owners and farmers in best practices for forest conservation. While their work is not directly focused on wildlife conservation, forests are very important ecosystems for biodiversity. The network of flora and fauna is very dense and interconnected in forests, and protecting that biodiversity is critical. The constant battle in forest conservation is balancing the need for timber with the need to preserve forests. This organization works to provide a sustainable supply of wood products in the least harmful way possible on the environment so that India’s resource needs are met without destroying their important forests.

European Wildlife is a pan-European organization whose mission is to preserve wildlife across Europe and reduce the effects of climate change on the environment and humanity. Some of their main efforts include reforesting non-farmland to help absorb greenhouse gases, as well as returning herds of herbivores to their environments. In the long run, they aim to create biocorridors that connect the different bioregions across the continent to facilitate safe migration.

This is just the beginning of the list of organizations that do important work to preserve the wildlife of our planet. Countless more local and international organizations are contributing greatly to the effort. I encourage everyone to look into local groups or any others that are interesting and learn how to help their efforts by contributing time, knowledge, money, or just spreading awareness of the importance of conservation for our world.