Today is an important day on the annual environmental calendar: World
Wildlife Day. This day is a prominent global wildlife event. On 20 December
2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
proclaimed 3 March, the day of signature of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as UN World
Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and
plants.
This year’s theme (“Big cats: predators under threat”) involves precious
big cats (they not only include lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars (the four
largest wild cats that can roar), but also cheetahs, snow leopards, pumas,
clouded leopards, etc.), placing the spotlight on their protection. Lions,
tigers, leopards, and jaguars are majestic animals, symbolizing power and
courage. These cats are widely recognizable, admirable, and charismatic. Big
cat species are primarily found in Africa, Asia, and North, Central and South
America. Sadly, though, they face various and unprecedented threats (primarily
caused by human activities) to their survival in the wild, and globally too. Their
populations are rapidly declining due to loss of habitat and prey, conflicts
with people, poaching, and illegal trade.
According to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), “tiger populations plummeted by 95% over the
past 100 years and African lion populations dropped by 40% in just 20 years”.
According to the CITES Secretary-General, John E. Scanlon, “over the past
century we have been losing big cats, the planet’s most majestic predators, at
an alarming rate. World Wildlife Day 2018 gives us the opportunity to raise
awareness about their plight and to galvanize support for the many global and
national actions that are underway to save these iconic species. Through World
Wildlife Day big cats will generate the level of attention they all deserve to
be sure they are with us for generations to come”.
On 20 December
2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed
3 March, the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). With 183 Member States,
CITES remains one of the world's most influential tools for biodiversity
conservation through the regulation of trade in wild fauna and flora. The CITES
Secretariat was designated as the facilitator for the global observance of this
special day for wildlife on the UN calendar. It’s a day to celebrate and raise awareness of the
world’s wild animals and plants. It is about raising awareness of the multitude
of benefits that conservation provides to people and helps to galvanize
national and international action. Today it’s the world’s most important global
annual event dedicated exclusively to wildlife. It reminds people of the urgent
need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging
economic, environmental and social impacts.
Theme
for 2017
Every year a
specific theme is used to celebrate this important environmental day on the
calendar.
This year WWD is celebrated with a “Listen to the Young Voices” theme in mind. Youth
are essentially the agents of change. This is definitely an important and
relevant theme because almost one quarter of the world’s population is aged
between 10 and 24. Therefore, efforts need to be made in order to encourage
young people because they are the future leaders and decision makers of the
world, and, thus, to act at both local and global levels to ensure that the
protection of endangered wildlife occurs.One thing that is high on the United
Nation’s agenda is the engagement and empowerment of youth. Currently, this
objective is being achieved through the youth programmes of various UN system
organizations and the dedicated UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. Parties
to CITES gathered at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17)
(held in Johannesburg in September 2016) adopted the first CITES resolution on
‘Youth Engagement’ – calling for greater engagement and empowerment of youth in
conservation issues. This year, WWD specifically 2017 encourages youth all over
the world to rally together to address on-going major threats to wildlife including
habitat change, over-exploitation or illicit trafficking. Thankfully, progress
has already been seen on the positive impacts on conservation issues made by
some young conservation leaders around the world. The collective youth impact
is extensive and indisputable. It is the duty of the current generations to
impart their knowledge of wildlife conservation with the younger generations,
and thereby empowering and encouraging them to actively engage and participate.
Plight of wildlife
Wildlife has an
intrinsic value, contributing to the ecological, genetic, social, economic,
scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of
sustainable development and human well-being. But, alarming challenges
facing wildlife include habitat loss, climate change and poaching. Poaching and
trafficking of wildlife is the most immediate threat to many species. The fate of the world’s wildlife will soon be
in the hands of the next generation. There’s
is a pressing need for enhanced action to ensure the survival of wildlife in
its natural habitats.
Get
involved!
WWD is celebrated in various ways in order
to help promote awareness about wildlife conservation issues around the world.
So, go wild for World Wildlife Day by:
·Making sure to announce your applicable
event so we can see how World Wildlife Day is being celebrated around the
world!
·Posting on social media. Repost one
of our photos, posters or use one of our action cards and say something about
the day. Remember to use the hashtags #DoOneThingToday, #youth4wildlife,
#YoungVoices, #WorldWildlifeDay,
#EndWildlifeTrafficking
·Entering the World Wildlife Day
2017 Photo Competition (The winner will get a free flight and 2 night
accommodation to New York for World Wildlife day 2017)!
·Engaging with celebrities,
athletes, politicians, businesses and appoint them as Wildlife Conservation
Ambassadors or key opinion leaders.
Local
communities can play a positive role in helping to curb illegal wildlife trade.
So, WWD provides an excellent opportunity to help raise awareness and take
action to be part of the solution, ensuring that wildlife conservation takes
place and wildlife crimes are combatted.The message of
the official World Wildlife Day website is clear: WE ALL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY.
It is also up to every citizen, young and old, to protect wildlife and their
habitats. IT’S TIME FOR US ALL TO LISTEN TO THE YOUNG VOICES!
This year there
is also a greater focus on social media and the power thereof because it plays
an important role on raising awareness to educate people about this vital
environmental day. This will ensure the protection of wildlife daily. Showing
your support by supporting is very easy; including
·Use your
computer or phone to digitally spread the message. This will ensure that more people
are reached and they, too, will be aware of this important day. Use the hashtags
#WWD2016; #InOurHands; #WorldWildlifeDay.
·Make use
of the WWD logo as widely as possible.
·Make use
of the following official posters to commemorate this day:
·Visit a
zoo, a museum, a botanical garden or a national park.
·Launch a
new campaign linked with the World Wildlife Day.
·Talk about
wildlife in schools and universities.
·Organize
wildlife photo exhibitions.
·Supporting
your local conservation projects.
·Put up
wildlife exhibits.
·Collaborate
with local zoos, conservation centres, wildlife reserves, museums or botanical
gardens and encourage them to celebrate World Wildlife Day.
·Collect
signatures for a “say ‘no’ to illegal wildlife products” campaign.
·Donate
your time. Many organizations and zoos have volunteer programs.
·Learn more
about our planet’s species from experts.Visit the websites of conservation organizationsSubscribe to a
wildlife magazine and watch nature programmes on TV.
World Wildlife Day is
internationally celebrated on the 3rd of March every year. It
revolves around raising awareness of our beautiful and divers wild fauna and
flora as well as why it is imperative that it must be conserved for future
generations. The focus is not only charismatic, majestic species but also the
lesser known (but equally important) species. It is specifically celebrated on
this day because it marks the day that the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted in 1973. CITES
have 182 Member States and is a powerful international tool for biodiversity
conservation by regulating the trade in wild fauna and flora. .Every year the
day is celebrated with a specific theme in mind and this year’s theme is “The
future of wildlife is in our hands”, globally focusing on the conservation of
African and Asian elephants through the subtheme of “The future of elephants is
in our hands”. The theme emphasizes the inextricable link between wildlife,
people and sustainable development.
Wildlife has an intrinsic
value and contributes to the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific,
educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of sustainable
development and human well-being. It is a vitally important day because the
world’s wonderful wildlife is facing many challenges including habitat loss,
overgrazing, farming, and development. Furthermore, poaching and trafficking in
wildlife especially elephants, pangolins, rhinoceros, sharks, tigers and
precious tree species of are threats to these species as well.
A worrisome and
shocking fact is that about 100,000 elephants were estimated to be slaughtered
for their ivory between the period 2010 - 2012. Wildlife crime has wide-ranging
economic, environmental and social impacts.
Countries and individuals
alike around the globe are enthusiastically encouraged to take actions to place
greater attention on wild animals and plants from their own countries and
commit themselves to conserving these precious species and to protect them from
imminent threats as well as to protect their habitat indefinitely. It is the
responsibility of each generation to safeguard wildlife for the following
generation.
So, please, join us in this
celebration. We all have an imperative role to play to be part of the solution
to ensure that adequate wildlife conservation takes place. Together, with our
collective conservation actions, we will ensure that these wildly wonderful
wildlife will not go extinct, but, conversely, prosper. Please speak for the
voiceless.And remember,
every day should be Wildlife Day.
"On
this World Wildlife Day, I call on all citizens, businesses and governments to
play their part in protecting the world’s wild animals and plants.The actions taken by each of us will
determine the fate of the world’s wildlife.The future of wildlife is in our hands!" - Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
This year’s theme (“Big cats: predators under threat”) involves precious
big cats (they not only include lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars (the four
largest wild cats that can roar), but also cheetahs, snow leopards, pumas,
clouded leopards, etc.), placing the spotlight on their protection. Lions,
tigers, leopards, and jaguars are majestic animals, symbolizing power and
courage. These cats are widely recognizable, admirable, and charismatic. Big
cat species are primarily found in Africa, Asia, and North, Central and South
America. Sadly, though, they face various and unprecedented threats (primarily
caused by human activities) to their survival in the wild, and globally too. Their
populations are rapidly declining due to loss of habitat and prey, conflicts
with people, poaching, and illegal trade.
