March 3rd is World Wildlife Day and this year’s event will be celebrated with the theme ‘Sustaining All Life on Earth’. The aim is to promote wild animal and plant species as key to the planet’s biodiversity. 

This not only aligns with UN sustainable development goals but also its commitments to alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources and conserving life to stop biodiversity loss. 

The Day will be marked with a series of fun events across the UK but, as well as hosting get-togethers, Britain is already supporting major initiatives to protect biodiversity. Among these, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and Natural England have outlined a shared vision to use nature-based solutions to tackle the climate emergency. 

This includes a pledge to protect and restore peatlands. These land areas play a vital role in battling climate change by storing more carbon than all other types of vegetation in the world combined. 

The government’s England Peat Strategy is to be published this spring, while its Environmental Land Management scheme will reward farmers for supporting wildlife and innovating practices that tackle climate change. 

In the wake of the damage wreaked by recent floods across England and Wales, schemes to plant trees and restore natural habitats such as wetlands, sand dunes and salt marshes to reduce the impact of flooding will be particularly welcome. Importantly, these moves will also help improve habitats for diverse wildlife. 

All of this is vital work. Nearly a quarter of all the world’s species are presently at risk of going extinct in the coming years and this will hasten the disappearance of countless others – ultimately, endangering humans too. 

So why not use World Wildlife Day 2020 to pursue a career that not only celebrates the special place of wild plants and animals as part of the world’s biological diversity but helps protect them? 

Many jobs allow you to share your passion for animals and the planet, in sectors as varied as wildlife conservation, marine science and charity work. 

With World Wildlife Day recognising the importance of wildlife in our oceans, you might consider a role as a marine biologist. The UK’s inland and offshore waters are home to a wide range of marine creatures and plants, from salmon and seals to kelp and seagrass to dolphins and sharks. 

Monitoring eco-systems below the waves is important to fully understanding how oceans, rivers and lakes and their resident wildlife work and, through this, finding new ways to protect biodiversity. Working as part of a project here in the UK could ultimately help marine inhabitants across the planet. 

Back on dry land – or as dry as the recent storms will allow – and our forests are also a wonderful workplace to experience wildlife. Forestry is much more than growing and harvesting trees, with your job often becoming an integral part of major conservation projects. 

Among new government-led initiatives is a pledge to deliver large-scale woodland creation by increasing tree planting rates by up to 30,000 hectares a year. This work should also ensure new and existing woodland is based on the right trees in the right places. 

Meeting the tree-planting commitment would help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while providing safe habitats for wildlife, better soil health and water retention. 

Whether it’s related to oceans, forests or peatlands, wildlife protection and habitat conservation – in the UK and around the world – often relies on the work of charities. These organisations need enthusiastic employees to assist in the daily tasks of caring for endangered flora and fauna – this can mean recording wildlife and plant numbers, caring for injured animals and releasing rescued animals back into their natural habitat. 

Less hands-on but equally important to the success of these groups are the campaigners, fundraisers, marketers and PR professionals. As a unified task force, they pool their talents to create planet-changing campaigns. 

Finally, have you considered a career in an ‘ology’? If you loved STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at school, there are science specialisms that could see you on the frontline of protecting wildlife and biodiversity – and they’re all ‘ologies’. These include ornithology (birds), marine biology (sea life), entomology (the study of insects), herpetology (reptiles and amphibians) and primatology (primates such as lemurs, apes, and monkeys). 

Alternatively, you could choose a role that involves working with more ologies and creatures than Dr Dolittle – and having just as good communication skills: the wildlife vet 

This means specialising in treating wild animals; often necessary in the wake of human-made or climate-linked catastrophes such as oil spills at sea or forest fires, as most recently witnessed in Australia. 

It takes commitment and dedication. As well as the years of study at veterinary medical school, you’ll be expected to gain experience in the field (or jungle, savannah or on a British mountainside). It’s worth it: a wildlife specialist is the superhero of conservation and biodiversity. 

Whatever your skills, experience and passion, the planet’s wildlife needs you now – so why not explore a truly diverse world of planet-empowering vacancies with x1jobs?