Take Conservation Action!
Take Conservation Action!
There are many ways we can all take action to preserve and protect wildlife and wild places at home and across the world. Scroll through the list below to find ways to contribute data as a community scientist, make informed choices when purchasing to support wildlife and how to support our programs at the Zoological Society and Milwaukee County Zoo. For any questions, you can contact us at conservation@zoosociety.org.
Make Informed Choices
As consumers we hold power in what we choose to buy. By learning about sustainable options, we can support best-practice suppliers that adhere to standards to conserve wildlife and habitats around the world. Each of the websites below provide resources for you to use when purchasing seafood, coffee and products that contain palm oil. Follow the links to visit the website or download the App onto your smart device to make informed choices when shopping.
Conservation Campaigns
Seafood Watch
Seafood Watch is a global leader in the sustainable seafood movement. When you choose to buy sustainable seafood, you push suppliers to source more environmentally responsible products, driving significant improvements throughout the industry. Ultimately, your choices have an impact on the health of the ocean. You can download the appropriate Pocket Guide Seafood Watch PDF to your cellular device!
Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly® Coffee
Bird Friendly® is grown on farms that provide habitat for birds through shade-grown coffee. This farming technique provides benefits for birds, farmers and overall biodiversity. The website provides a list of certified farms and you can purchase coffee directly through their website.
Palm Oil Scan App
Make orangutan-friendly choices with the most extensive and popular sustainable palm oil shopping guide. This app scans the barcodes of your favorite products and will provide you with palm oil sourcing information so you can make sustainable shopping decisions.
Plastic Free Milwaukee
Through Plastic Free Milwaukee’s Lake Friendly Certification Program, you can find restaurants in the city of Milwaukee that use sustainable practices and have limited their use of single-use plastics.
Community and Citizen Science Projects
Community science projects are critical to learning more about wildlife populations with contributions made from thousands of community scientists (that’s you!). You can register (for free) and contribute data to support wildlife monitoring efforts. Click each link to access the website, join their team and start submitting monitoring data! The Society’s conservation department currently participates in the community science projects listed below:
- Share bird sightings through eBird.
- Monitor bird nests through NestWatch.
- Monitor bird feeders through Project FeederWatch.
- Observe and ID Wisconsin bumble bees through Bumble Bee Brigade (WI-DNR).
- Have a bat roost site nearby? Submit bat data to the Wisconsin Bat Monitoring Program (WI-DNR).
- Join the Great Backyard Bird Count – annually, the third weekend of February.
- Join the Great Backyard Bumble Bee Count – annually, the last week of July and first week of August.
- At any time, submit animal, insect and plant observations to iNaturalist biodiversity monitoring.
- Observe monarch butterfly migration and milkweed presence through Journey North.
Support Wildlife in Your Backyard
- Participate in No Mow May and support overwintering pollinators emerging from hibernation. Convert your lawn to flowering native plants (including clover) to support biodiversity.
- Join litter cleanups in your neighborhood or organize one yourself. Each year we join Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s Spring Cleanup event at our co-adopted site with the Milwaukee County Zoo on the Hank Aaron State Trail.
- Follow these seven simple actions to support birds to prevent bird strikes on your home windows, provide food resources, and reduce domestic cat disturbance on wild birds.
More Ways You Can Help
Become a Zoo Pride volunteer!
Zoo Pride volunteers support our education, conservation, and event programs at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Learn about other conservation organizations supported by the Milwaukee County Zoo.
See wildlife conservation projects that are supported by the Zoo’s conservation dollars, including funds raised from Round Up For Conservation and your admission to the Zoo.
Donate to support our wildlife conservation efforts!
Support Pat Gives Back and the conservation work in Belize helping howler monkeys, migratory songbirds and other species endemic to Belize.
