Friday March 3 marks the 10th World Wildlife Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Convention that regulates the international trade in wild animals and plants (CITES).
World Wildlife Day celebrates the world’s wild animals and plants and the contribution they make to our world and our lives.
Wild species of animals, fish, and plants are facing unprecedented challenges to their survival. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, more than a million species of animals and plants are at risk of extinction.
Reversing the planet’s decline in biodiversity takes teamwork: international, regional, national, and local partnerships. In order to safeguard the world’s precious natural resources, conservation world leaders met in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1973 and signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) into existence. Today, the United States works, with 183 other member parties, to ensure the international wildlife trade is legal, biologically sustainable, and traceable. Participation is mutually beneficial: sustainable, legal use of wild animals and plants is better for both domestic and global economies than the unchecked illegal trade, which can drive species and associated markets to extinction.
To celebrate CITES’ 50th anniversary and World Wildlife Day, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with the CITES Secretariat and other governmental and non-governmental partners, will host the Partnerships for Conservation event at the National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On Friday, March 3rd, the event will begin promptly at 10:00am EST and run for 2.5 hours.
If you would like to virtually attend, you may watch in real-time here.
Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, United States of America
Matthias Lörtscher, Head of CITES Management Authority, Switzerland (CITES Depositary Government)
Juergen Voegele, Vice President for Sustainable Development, World Bank
10:25am - Partnership Stories from Around the World
10:50am - IFAW Youth Art Contest
11:00am - Financing for Conservation Through Partnerships
11:45am - Youth Voices
11:55am - Jackson Wild Film Showcase
12:20pm - Closing Remarks
We hope you will be able to join us for the live broadcast, but if not, it will be recorded and available to watch here
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