.jpg)
June 22 marked the seventh World Rainforest Day where celebrations took place around the world: Zoos and museums, parks and recreational spaces, nonprofit organizations and companies hosted events to spotlight climate-critical rainforests and amplify their own commitment to the protection of these vital ecosystems.
At the forefront of this global movement was Rainforest Partnership, the founding organization behind World Rainforest Day. Rainforest Partnership hosted the third annual World Rainforest Day Summit, a virtual event offering knowledge exchange and community building designed to highlight solutions for rainforest protection and drive holistic, unified actions around the world.
2023 Summit: Conserve. Restore. Regenerate.
This year’s theme—Conserve. Restore. Regenerate. — captured the critical work that must happen to ensure rainforests thrive for centuries to come. To safeguard our shared future on this planet, we need to assist the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, while conserving those that are still intact.
This year’s World Rainforest Day Summit ran for two days, with registrants from 77 countries and over 30 organizations taking part in events focused on community-led conservation, innovative technology, sustainable business, biodiversity protection, ecosystem restoration, healthcare, education, and more. The keynote address was delivered by Governor Gary Juffa of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, a fearless defender of rainforests and an embodiment of the vast potential of policy and law in safeguarding ecosystems.
In addition to panel discussions, the Summit offered instant and seamless networking for attendees and speakers alike.
“World Rainforest Day is a significant milestone for everyone working towards healthy forests... to bring us together and celebrate as one. Everyone was one click away and that made the experience dynamic and fun, allowing me to make new acquaintances and reconnect with old friends.”
said Marc Thibault, an Oakland-based entrepreneur on his second World Rainforest Day Summit experience.
“We’re making cross-sectoral impact an attainable reality.”
added Nia Gorbunova, World Rainforest Day coordinator, on the importance of fostering a space for individuals from all sectors, all around the world, to connect over rainforest protection. Participants left empowered with new networks and ideas, eager to take action that matters for forests and climate.
A digital movement to #LoveTheForest
Rainforest Partnership also assembled a global campaign on the biggest stage possible: the internet. The campaign to #LoveTheForest called on individuals and organizations to share how or why they love rainforests, with a toolkit teeming with informative and beautiful posts available to draw from.
The week of June 22 saw a surge in content around rainforests, with social media users sharing why their protection is a critical and urgent mission, and what they do to play their part. The movement made waves across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even TikTok, with the first-ever influencer-led World Rainforest Day campaign.
On Twitter alone, World Rainforest Day content reached 93.8 million users, making this year’s celebration the biggest one yet and laying the foundation for a global movement unified in the defense of our planet’s most critical ecosystems - rainforests.
About World Rainforest Day
Created by the nonprofit Rainforest Partnership in 2017, World Rainforest Day - celebrated annually on June 22 - highlights rainforests and their critical role in stabilizing our climate, showcases innovative solutions for their protection, and inspires individual and collective actions around the world.
About Rainforest Partnership
Rainforest Partnership is an impact-driven international nonprofit, founded in 2007 in Austin, Texas, that uses the power of community-centered collaboration to protect rainforests—critical components in the global climate crisis—in some of the most critical places on Earth for biodiversity and climate. Visit www.rainforestpartnership.org to learn more.
