A Nature Lover’s Year 2024 Conservation Calendar With All Wildlife & Environmental Awareness Days Celebrated Internationally

The last few days of yet another year are fleeting by, blindly running on a hamster wheel towards an elusive end, never truly awake to the moment we are living in, ultimately therefore, sleepwalking through rare wonders of this sacred life, begging to be lived with every fiber of our beings, keeping wide open – our eyes, our hearts.

At the year’s end, as I gave final touches to the Year 2024 edition of my Nature Lover’s Wildlife & Environmental conservation calendar, I came across this book titled – “The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza”.

In a stunning editor’s note, John Daido Loori (June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009) a Zen Buddhist Roshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery – invites us to experience stillness in these profound and well-timed words –

IN THE COLD, DAMP SHELTERS of our primitive ancestors, lit only by the flickering of a campfire, at day’s end there was a time for recollection and stillness that would help to fuel the next day’s events.

Since the beginning of human history, the still point has served as the birthplace of all our activity. Virtually every creature on this great earth practices the backward step of quieting down and entering this still point. Birds, beasts, bugs, and fish all seem to find time in their daily existence to relax and recreate—to bring forth the flower from what Whitman called “the seed of perfection”.

When he mentions “the seed of perfection,” Abbot Loori is referring to the following lines of Walt Whitman’s breathtaking poem – “Song of the Universal“.

In this broad earth of ours,

Amid the measureless grossness and the slag,

Enclosed and safe within its central heart,

Nestles the seed of perfection.

What separates our lives from that of our primitive ancestors is the bond they shared with the earth. It kept them enchanted to the grandeurs of the living world around them, it gave them life’s most rewarding wisdom in the course of a seemingly mundane routine of their days. It gifted them chances to surrender their ego to wonder, which brought them moments of stillness – something our inner worlds today, don’t know.

In the name of evolving, disconnected from nature more than ever in the history of humanity, are we thriving? While our outside world is offering a new digital convenience of life almost every day, a constant war within ourselves keeps growing, and, our “seed of perfection” remains out of reach, forevermore.

Nature was the antidote for man’s internal unrest thousands of years ago. It still is. As another new year is given to us to make it meaningful, let’s go back to the wild – where birds, beasts, oceans, and forests still are part of wholesome ecosystems, where things are mightiest at their simplest, where still, harmony, peace, integrity, and beauty prevail. Let us reunite with them, let us learn from them, and while it is still possible, let us save what we have lost so that it can save us, in turn.

Probably you are a concerned environment/wildlife champion, activist, educator, or you are involved in a sustainable business. Or, you simply love nature, because being part of the same nature, loving her could only be our innate response. In all these instances and more, I am hoping that you want to stay inspired and well aware of all the important environmental and wildlife observance dates of the year.

Here is my one-of-a-kind, printable calendar/planner for the year 2024, just for nature lovers and environmentally aware – featuring 72 major wildlife and environmental awareness days celebrated internationally and in the US.

Each awareness day is accompanied by a beautiful photograph of the subject and its official website address so that you know the best source for more information and how to contribute in an effective way when the causes most dear to your heart come in front of you.

I am sure you will enjoy using it as much as I have enjoyed creating it, and can’t wait to know your thoughts on it. Download the calendar/planner for free!

A list of all significant wildlife and environmental awareness days

celebrated worldwide and in the US – with links to their official websites.

Browse through the list and find out a cause dear to you! 🙂

Article ©2023 Gyaneshwari Dave

Excerpt of the editor’s note by John Daido Loori,

From The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza”.

(Wisdom Publications, 2002)

The Nature Lover’s Calendar for the Year 2024 is purely a labor of love and its use is restricted to Personal, Educational, or Non-profit use to spread awareness about observances & initiatives for the conservation of the Environment, Wildlife, and Nature in general. The calendar is a FREE download and is NOT meant for commercial distribution in any manner. It CANNOT be used for a commercial product’s promotion and marketing. The calendar mentions a list of all the wonderful & generous photographers who shared their gorgeous nature images used in this calendar, with the world. Kindly respect their work and visit their online profiles if you are interested in the original photographs or would like to work with them.

Credits For Nature Photos Featured In This Post

Calendar Cover: Oleksandr on Pexels, Calendar- Feb 2: Jen Healy on Pexels, Calendar – March 23: Janko Ferlic on Pexels, Calendar – May 22: Alexas Fotos on Pexels, Calendar – June 9: Shaun Low on Unsplash, Calendar – Sep 12: Coral Grandbois on Pexels, Calendar – Dec 11: Pixabay on Pexels