Short Takes / World Wildlife Day

People everywhere need to remember that we depend on Mother Earth to survive, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for World Wildlife Day, advocating for “a more caring, thoughtful and sustainable relationship with nature”.

He pointed out that in its 2019 Global Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) highlighted how the current global rate of species extinction is not only rampant, but accelerating at a rate that is “tens to hundreds of times higher” than before human beings walked the Earth.

“By overexploiting wildlife, habitats and ecosystems, humanity is endangering both itself and the survival of countless species of wild plants and animals,” the UN chief said.

World Wildlife Day

On December 20, 2013, the 68th session of the UN General Assembly decided to proclaim March 3 as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora. The date is the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973, which plays an important role in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species’ survival.

Earlier, March 3 had been designated as World Wildlife Day in a resolution made at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) held in Bangkok from March 3 to 14, 2013. The CITES resolution was sponsored by Thailand, the host of CITES CoP16, which transmitted the outcomes of CITES CoP16 to the UN General Assembly.

The Secretariat of the CITES, in collaboration with other relevant UN organisations, facilitates the implementation of World Wildlife Day.

With 183 member states, CITES remains one of the world’s most powerful tools for biodiversity conservation through the regulation of trade in wild fauna and flora.

Biodiversity super year

The theme of World Wildlife Day 2020, “sustaining all life on Earth”, encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity, as well as the livelihoods of people, especially those who live closest to nature.

This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss.

Earth is home to countless species of fauna and flora - too many to even attempt counting. Historically, we have depended on the constant interplay and interlinkages between all elements of the biosphere for all our needs: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the materials we need for all purposes.

The animals and plants that live in the wild have an intrinsic value and contribute to the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of human well-being and to sustainable development.

However, unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of the species and natural resources are imperiling the world’s biodiversity. Nearly a quarter of all species are presently at risk of going extinct in the coming decades.

2020, known as “biodiversity super year”, will host several major global events that place biodiversity at the forefront. It provides a unique opportunity to deliver transformative progress for the conservation and sustainable use of the species of wild animals and plants.

World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that their conservation provides to people.

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