What is World Rewilding Day?
World Rewilding Day is an annual event held to celebrate global rewilding initiatives.
Rewilding is the process of allowing, or assisting, an area of land or a body of water to return to an uncultivated state. It often involves the reintroduction of flora and fauna that have been extirpated from the region.
People from all over the world and from all walks of life – from scientists and solicitors to indigenous leaders and investment bankers – are encouraged to contribute toward, or simply take a moment to consider, a wilder, more biodiverse, more resilient earth.
When is World Rewilding Day?
World Rewilding Day is on March 20, 2026.
History of World Rewilding Day
World Rewilding Day is a relatively new initiative. It was first launched in 2021 by the Global Rewilding Alliance, a worldwide support network for organizations focusing on all kinds of rewilding initiatives.
It is celebrated on the first solar equinox of the year, when the sun appears directly over the equator and day and night are the same length everywhere in the world.
The day marks the changing of the seasons from winter to spring and from summer to autumn. It symbolizes the balance between nature’s processes and the progression from one state to the next.
What to do on World Rewilding Day
World Rewilding Day focuses on both raising awareness and taking action.
To get involved in World Rewilding Day you can spread the message on social media by using hashtags like #WorldRewildingDay, #RewildingTogether, and #GenerationRestoration to highlight rewilding initiatives.
You can also attend, or contribute to, many of the events hosted by rewilding groups across the world. Local organizations have put on a huge variety of activities to mark World Rewilding Day in previous years, including guest lectures, film screenings, field trips and workshops.
Rewilding facts
- Global Rewilding Alliance partners are influencing the rewilding of more than 2.2 million sqm of land and 5 million sqm of sea.
- Studies have shown that rewilding improves the resilience of ecosystems, increases biodiversity and favours the interaction between nature and society.
- Rewilding 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic habitats by 2030 could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services and remove nearly 26 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
- Research conducted by the UN found that every dollar invested in restoration creates up to 30 dollars in economic benefits.
- The reintroduction of just 14 wolves in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 reversed a damaging trophic cascade and helped to restore the entire regional ecosystem to its previous state.
Sources
Global Rewilding Alliance, Lund University, Mossy Earth, UN Environment Program
More environmental days in March
- World Seagrass Day
- World Wildlife Day
- Food Waste Action Week
- Solar Appreciation Day
- International Day of Action for Rivers
- Global Recycling Day
- World Day for Glaciers
- Digital Cleanup Day
- International Day of Forests
- World Water Day
- World Meteorological Day
- Earth Hour
- International Day of Zero Waste
