New Delhi: World Wildlife Day is celebrated every March 03, to promote sustainable practices that can help conserve biodiversity and raise public awareness of the need to protect and care for animals.
This year the World Wildlife Day, focuses on digital innovation and emphasizes how the digital conservation technologies and services can drive wildlife conservation and human-wildlife coexistence.
The 2024 theme, “Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation”, recognizes the impact of digital interventions on ecosystems and communities in an increasingly connected world.
As per the United Nations, the ‘digital divide’ is gradually shrinking, with improved connectivity and Internet access now reaching 66 percent of our global population.
The agency said approximately 2.7 billion people worldwide remain offline. In the least developed countries and landlocked developing nations, only an average of 36 percent of the population has online access.
Furthermore, women and young individuals are disproportionately affected by gaps in Internet access and job-ready digital skills.
Meanwhile, technological advancements have significantly improved various aspects of wildlife conservation, including research, communication, tracking, and DNA analysis, challenges such as uneven access, environmental pollution, and unsustainable technology use impede achieving universal digital inclusion by 2030.
Did you know?
Around, 50,000 Wild Species Meet Needs of Billions Worldwide. One in five people around the world rely on wild species for income and food, while 2.4 billion people depend on wood fuel for cooking. It seems surprising, but cacti, seaweeds, giraffes, parrots, and oak trees are groups of species endangered. Currently there are one million species under threat.
History of World Life Day:
World Wildlife Day was first proposed by Thailand to the UN General Assembly in 2013. The idea was to set aside a day to promote awareness of wild animals and plants around the world. The General Assembly adopted a resolution on 20 December 2013, designating March 3 as World Wildlife Day in 2014. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global agreement to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, was signed on this day in 1973.
