September 4th is National Wildlife Day, a chance to pause and celebrate the natural world around us. It’s the perfect opportunity to revel in the preservation and conservation efforts around the world to maintain animal habitats for their survival and our own. Although President Nixon passed a law protecting threatened and endangered species from extinction in 1973 as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation,” much still remains to be done. For example, as 5 million acres of the Amazon rainforest burns, we must understand how fires of this magnitude have far reaching consequences for us all. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “In wildness is the preservation of the world.”
Here are my top 10 favorite wildlife conservation Instagram accounts:
Earth Alliance is a nonprofit organization co-chaired by Leonardo DiCaprio to face environmental threats head on in an effort to save our planet.
The National Park Service was founded in 1916 to help manage our national parks with an eye toward land conservation and the preservation of native animal species.
The official account of the the U.S. Department of the Interior is another amazing feed devoted to the celebration of our National Parks and the wildlife who call those parks home.
The Sierra Club is our nation’s largest, grassroots environmental organization. Founded in 1892 by John Muir, a Scottish-American preservationist, and San Francisco Bay Area resident. Their Instagram feed is all about saving the planet.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was founded in Kenya in 1977 to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants and rhinos. Their work has expanded now to include giraffes and is all about habitat preservation for these amazing animal species.
Love the oceans and the creatures who call them home? Then you must follow the Ocean Conservancy, an organization devoted to the preservation of our oceans and their inhabitants.
While there are numerous, amazing wildlife photographers on Instagram, two of my favorites have accounts that are not just filled with jaw-dropping images, but devoted to wildlife conservation efforts around the globe. Beverly Joubert produces African wildlife documentaries.
And Paul Nicklen, the co-founder of Sea Legacy, is undoubtedly one of the best conservation photographers in the world with many of his images documenting wildlife habitats in the north and south poles.
Julie Bond is a voracious reader with eclectic tastes running the gamut from YA lit, to psychological suspense, and anything dog-related, of course. You can find her haunting her favorite San Francisco Bay Area indie bookstores. Email her at ObsessiveBookFanatic@gmail.com
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