World Wildlife Day 2025: Date, Theme, Significance and PM Modi's Lion Safari Highlights

World Wildlife Day, which is celebrated on March 3 every year, is an international event that is committed to bringing awareness to wildlife conservation and the preservation of their habitats. This significant day in 2025 occurs on a Monday, with the theme of "Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet." This theme is particularly important in highlighting the urgent need for sustainable financial investments towards preserving biodiversity and facilitating a coexistence between nature and human beings.

Date and Theme

World Wildlife Day is celebrated in honor of adopting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on March 3, 1973. The worldwide treaty governs the trade in threatened species to avoid overexploitation. The theme for 2025 focuses on the need for efficient financial measures for conservation purposes, urging governments, private organizations, and communities to pool funds to fund long-term wildlife conservation.

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Significance

World Wildlife Day highlights the urgent need to address global environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and habitat destruction. Over one million species are currently at risk of extinction due to human activities like deforestation and illegal wildlife trade. This day reminds individuals, organizations, and governments to take actionable steps toward preserving ecosystems and protecting endangered species.

PM Modi’s Lion Safari in Gujarat

During World Wildlife Day in 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a lion safari at the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in Junagadh district of Gujarat. This visit came on the last day of his three-day Saurashtra tour. Spending the night in Sinh Sadan, a forest guest house owned by the state forest department at Sasan, Modi took off for a jeep safari in the morning accompanied by ministers and high-ranking forest officers. He saw and clicked pictures of regal Asiatic lions in the wild and relished the scenic views of Gir while on the safari.

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The Prime Minister's visit also involved presiding over the seventh meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) at Sasan Gir. The NBWL has 47 members, including state representatives, NGOs, and government functionaries engaged in wildlife conservation. After this meeting, Modi spoke with women forest staff to appreciate their role in conservation efforts.

The union government has sanctioned more than ₹2,900 crore for Project Lion, which will be used for the conservation of Asiatic lions—Gujarat is their sole natural habitat. These lions now occupy close to 30,000 square kilometres in nine districts of Gujarat. Moreover, new projects like a National Referral Center for Wildlife in Junagadh district and a state-of-the-art monitoring center in Sasan have been initiated to improve the process of conservation.

Celebrations Across the World

World Wildlife Day 2025 will be observed through a range of activities designed to promote awareness and action:

• Educational Events: Seminars and workshops on conservation of biodiversity.
• Advocacy Campaigns: Social media campaigns raising debate on conservation funding.
• Community Projects: Local community-led habitat restoration projects.
• Fundraising Initiatives: Donation or sponsorship campaigns for threatened species.

World Wildlife Day 2025 serves as a strong reminder of the common duty to preserve wildlife for generations to come. Through the theme for this year's celebration, highlighting sustainable financial investments, along with efforts such as Project Lion initiated by people like PM Modi, it is made clear that preserving biodiversity not only serves as an environmental imperative but also as a human well-being investment.