UN highlights voices of young people in wildlife protection

The United Nations on Friday observed this year's World Wildlife Day with a call to highlight young people's voices in conservation efforts.

"Poaching and illegal trafficking pose a significant threat to wildlife, especially some of the world's most iconic and endangered species," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his message for the Day, whose theme this year was Listen to the Young Voices.

"Strict enforcement of laws is important, but so too is awareness," Guterres added, appealing to young people to protect their inheritance by becoming informed and acting to protect wild animals and plants from the threat of extinction.

On December 20, 2013, the UN General Assembly decided to proclaim March 3 as World Wildlife Day - the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973, which plays an important role in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species' survival.

Speaking at a General Assembly event on the protection of wild flora and fauna and on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife, newly appointed Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed highlighted the UN's efforts in those areas.

"Over the past four decades, the planet has lost as much as 50 percent of its wild animals and plants - and, in some areas, even more - due to climate change, habitat loss, over-exploitation, poaching and illicit trafficking," she said.

"The illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, including elephant ivory, high value timber and marine species, is a threat not only to sustainable development but to peace and security," she warned, noting that the UN's plan for sustainable development includes a clear target to end those practices. Endit