On 3 March, the 2017 edition of World Wildlife Day was celebrated under the theme 'Listen to the young voices'.

Youths all around the globe organised events, big and small, and shared them on social media using the hashtags #DoOneThingToday, #youth4wildlife and others.

The world has lost half of its wildlife in just 40 years. Poaching and illegal trafficking are worth billions of dollars and continue to pose a significant threat – especially to some of the world’s most iconic and endangered species.

"As consumers, we have the power to demand that all wildlife products come from sustainable sources. I particularly appeal to young people to protect their inheritance by becoming informed and acting to protect wild animals and plants from the threat of extinction," says UN Secretary-General António Guterres. 

"World Wildlife Day is a very special day on the United Nations calendar. It is today the world’s most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.  Our generation has not yet succeeded in securing the future of many wild animals and plants. Meeting this challenge will now be shared with the next generation. And to succeed we must fully harness the innovation and energy of youth, and combine it with the wisdom that comes with experience, if we are to make the change we need to see happen", said John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General.

In Geneva, courtesy of Vulcan Assets Management, the ‘Ivory Game' film was screened by the Geneva Environment Network. The film exposes the crime and violence that leads to one elephant to be killed every 15 minutes, while also offering hope that this can be stopped.

Ben Janse Van Rensburg, Chief of Enforcement Support at CITES; Cees Van Duijn, Coordinator of environmental security at Interpol and Martin Krebs of the department of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Swiss Federal Government then took part in a lively and informative discussion open to members of the public.

Last September, Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) adopted a resolution calling for youths to be made more involved and empowered in conservation efforts.

For information on the global day write to yuan.liu@cites.org and for more on celebrations in Geneva contact diana.rizzolio@unep.org