March, 3rd of every year is the day the world marks the “wildlife day”, to raise awareness about issues that impact wildlife.
The theme this year is ‘Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration.’ The theme seeks to raise awareness of the critically endangered species of flora and fauna in our ecosystems, with a view to generating and implementing workable solutions to conserve them.
Millions of species are threatened with extinction due to continues loss of the species and habitat. Therefore this years theme will drive home the need to recover and restore habitats of endangered species as well as support their sustainability.
Some of the endangered animals in the world include; Elephants, Rhinos, Sea turtles, Gorillas, Saola, whales, Amur leopards, African penguins, Tooth-billed pigeon, Gharial, just to mention a few. Plant species such as San Diego ambrosia, Crenulate lead-plant, Little amphianthus, Large-flowered fiddleneck are also at the brick of extinction.
This comes at a time when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) marks 50 years since its establishment and there is a discussion on plastic pollution and the effect on marine wildlife and general environment.