World Wildlife Day 2017 observed globally

3 March: World Wildlife Day

The World Wildlife Day was observed across the world on 3 March 2017 with the theme 'Listen to the young voices'. The day is seen as an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora.

The call of the 2017 UN World Wildlife Day is to engage and empower the youth. It tends to give a new opportunity to provide incentives to the youth to tackle conservation issues. It is also an opportunity for them to engage with one another and together forge an inspired path to a better world.

The day is celebrated and implemented by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

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.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 20 December 2013 proclaimed 3 March as the World Wildlife Day.

Background
• Wildlife has an intrinsic value and contributes to the ecological, genetic, social, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of sustainable development.
• Habitat loss, climate change and poaching are among the most alarming challenges faced by wildlife today.
• In such scenario, the World Wildlife Day reminds the general public about the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.
• It also raises awareness of the multitude of benefits that fauna and flora conservation provides to people.