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