Entire species of plants and animals around the world are disappearing at an alarming rate. Scientists estimate that, just in the U.S., more than 500 species have disappeared in the last 200 years, putting natural systems at risk.

It’s not too late to reverse course, but it will take effort, including some changes to how we live right now. Read on for more!

Learn About Local Endangered Species

Saving whales and sending money to protect the habitats of penguins are important and welcome. You can have an even bigger impact if you learn about — and fight for the lives of — endangered species in your own area.

Find out what the state of animals and their habitats is in your part of the country, and learn about plans to protect and restore their numbers.

Reduce Food Waste

We are burning through loads of carbon-based fuels in order to produce food that we don’t even eat. Reducing food waste will lower your carbon footprint, which will slow the rate of climate change, which is changing habitats of plants and animals at a rate far faster than they are able to adapt to.

In the U.S. alone, 40% of edible food is wasted, higher than the global average.

Bring Them to Your City

Some argue that one way to save certain endangered species is to create “assurance colonies” by welcoming them into our cities. Case in point, the red-crowned parrot was accidentally brought into the Los Angeles ecosystem by pet traders.

More of them thrive in the “wilds” of Pasadena than in their native habitat in eastern Mexico, where there are fewer than 2,000.

Encourage Farmers to Adopt New Techniques

In a recent World Resources Institute report, the research group concluded that we will need to drastically change the way we make food in order to feed the billions of people that experts estimate will be living on planet Earth in the near future.

Already 40% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, which contributes to a quarter of carbon emissions globally. Some of the changes include less meat and also better, more sustainable, farming methods.

Report Harassment

If you know of illegally obtained animals or animal parts, or of disregard for listed species during hunting, farming or land development, you can — and should — report it.

Wildlife trade of endangered species and their parts contributes to species extinction, as does illegally trapping and killing them.

Protect Wildlife Habitats

The greatest threat to most species that are endangered (or nearing endangerment) is habitat loss. Protecting their spaces, often threatened by developments for housing, clearing land for farming or logging, or cut through by roads and highways, is key in their protection.

Getting involved and pushing for alternative ideas is necessary for their ongoing existence.

Fight Against Climate Change

Climate change is a threat to all living things, and it’s happening at a rate far faster than most species can adapt to. Make changes at home and in your community to slow the rate of change.

Push for policies that will limit the production of greenhouse emissions. That’s the single greatest change you can make to protect endangered species.

Create a Wildlife-Friendly Yard

You can protect wildlife at home by securing trash cans with locking lids or placing them in shelters. Feed your pets indoors and keep them inside at night to avoid unintentionally luring wildlife into your home.

Cats are natural predators and are partially responsible for the dramatic decrease in songbird populations around the country.

They kill an astounding 2.4 billion birds every year and have contributed to the extinction of nearly 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles. Keep cats indoors.

Grow a Butterfly and Insect Garden

Create a yard that attracts native insects by clearing your lawn and planting native vegetation. This can help pollinate your plants (and those of your neighbors), provide the nutrition on migratory routes, as well as shelter for egg-laying and population growth.

Visit a Wildlife Refuge

Instead of a resort or city vacation this year, visit a national park, national wildlife refuge or other protected open space.

There, you and your family will learn more about the wildlife, birds, fish and plants native to the area you visit and come away with an understanding of the beauty and scale of what we are losing around the globe.

Drive Carefully

Many animals on the endangered species list live in areas alongside humans. They must navigate things like cars and other human hazards just to go about their days. If you live in such an area, drive carefully, understand you’re in their space, and adapt your life to make it safe for them.

Fight Illegal (and Irresponsible) Logging

Logging, much of which happens illegally, contributes to deforestation. It eliminates native habitats for many species and is a threat to all of us as it contributes to climate change by shrinking the natural way carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere.

Making changes in your home to live more sustainably, with everything from buying products made from recycled paper to reduce the number of things you buy that come in packages, are changes that could add up to species protection.

Don’t Assume Alternative Fuels Are Better

While it’s important to dramatically lower our carbon footprint, experts on global ecosystems and sustainable living caution the adoption of alternative fuels that could end up harming biodiversity and further destroying forest habitats.

Yes, reducing emissions is a worthwhile goal. But replacing one damaging source of fuel with another isn’t the answer.

Live Sustainably

Instead of shopping as you always have, protecting endangered species might require you to change the way you think about how you consume products.

Buying products made from recycled or sustainable materials is important. And thinking about what and how much you buy is as well.

Reduce, reuse, recycle is a great goal. And so is refusing. Pass up the free swag, eat less takeout, think about how you can move through life without consuming single-use items like coffee cups and water bottles, plastic bags and cookie packs.

Understand Trade-Offs of Letting Species Die

The reduction of endangered species is a global effort, one that won’t be successful if governments and people are only told to protect species. People have to understand why biodiversity is important, the value nature provides, and how our well-being as humans is compromised when entire species die off.