World Wildlife Day 2022
Every year on March 3rd, World Wildlife Day commemorates the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973.
Wild animals and plants have intrinsic value because they contribute to the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic aspects of human well-being and sustainable development.
World Wildlife Day celebrates the diverse and beautiful forms of wild fauna and flora and raises awareness of their conservation’s numerous benefits to people.
Wildlife encompasses all forms of life found in nature, whether plant or animal, and includes marine, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems.
Wildlife conservation is the effort to protect endangered animal and plant species and their natural habitat, which has been advocated for many years by many governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide.
For example, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is an international organization whose primary goal is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the planet’s diversity of life.
According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2017, global wildlife populations have declined by 58 percent between 1970 and 2012. On the other hand, INTERPOL estimates that the international illegal wildlife trade is worth between US$10 and US$ 20 billion per year.
In Bangladesh, wildlife is pretty vulnerable to illegal trading, biodiversity loss, and various natural disasters. Wildlife at the south coast is highly vulnerable because of deforestation, natural tree deaths, and rising floodplains at high tide. Due to habitat and food crises, several forest animals often die in the locality.
Animals have died in the Sundarbans and various forests along the southern coast in the high tide caused by Hurricane Yas on May 26th, 2021.
A dead pregnant deer and two other dears got rescued from the Baleshwar River near the locality. The Sundarbans and the deer of Patharghata, Haringhata of Rangabali, Charmontaj of Rangabali, Nijhum Island of Noakhali, and many others came floating with the tide into the locality from the protected forests of the coast.
Not only deer but also other wild animals are in danger due to nature’s hostile behavior and deforestation. Due to food crises and lack of security, the animals often leave the sanctuary and move to the locality.
To cope with the high tides and tidal surges, necessary to build high mounds to shelter animals in the forest and increase the supply of fresh water and food.
MA Aziz, professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University and a wildlife expert, said, “Forests should be allowed to remain as forests.
This is the first and last word. Like humans, wild animals have some basic needs and demands. One of them is accommodation and food.
Just as people become refugees when they lose their homes, so do wild animals. There is no room for indifference to wildlife. We have to take the initiative to protect them.”
