The day is being celebrated on the 3rd of March every year to create awareness about the importance of protecting wildlife.
In December 2013, UN 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) in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day.
The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar.
About CITES
It came into force in July 1975 and currently has 183 signatories
Aim: Ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws.
Rather, it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.
The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), a consortium of the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, World Bank and the World Customs Organization has been established to tackle illegal wildlife trade.
