Each year, on 3 March, we celebrate World Wildlife Day. Established in 2013 by the UN General Assembly to raise awareness of the issues affecting the world’s wild animals and plants, it is now the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife. Through events such as World Wildlife Day, we are starting to understand and appreciate, not only the impacts that human activity is having on the natural world, but how our own wellbeing and survival is inextricably linked to the health of the planet.
Annual Themes
The theme for World Wildlife Day 2025 is Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet. For World Wildlife Day 2025, join us in exploring how we can work together to finance wildlife conservation more effectively and sustainably and build a resilient future for both people and the planet.
With over 1 million species estimated to be threatened with extinction, innovative finance for wildlife conservation is more urgent than ever. More than half of the world’s GDP is dependent on nature, making biodiversity loss a significant threat to financial stability. For example, fisheries contribute over 10 per cent of GDP in some countries, yet over one-third of marine fish stocks are overfished, leading to unemployment, disrupted economies, and illegal harvesting practices.
Current financial flows are insufficient for governments to meet national biodiversity targets, particularly in biodiversity hotspots located in low-to-middle-income countries. Although USD 143 billion is invested annually in biodiversity conservation, this falls short of the estimated USD 824 billion needed each year. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a stimulus of at least USD 500 billion to boost long-term financing for development, including nature.
WWD2025 will serve as a platform for exchange and exploration of innovative financial solutions for wildlife conservation. It will showcase financial innovations, the challenges faced by civil society, governments, organisations, and the private sector, and the collaborative approaches needed to ensure sustainable funding for biodiversity.
Previous Years
2024 – Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation. Exploring how digital technologies and services can drive wildlife conservation, sustainable and legal wildlife trade and human-wildlife coexistence, now and for future generations in an increasingly-connected world.
2023 – Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation. Celebrating all conservation efforts, from intergovernmental to local scale, and the partnerships that make a significant contribution to sustainability, wildlife and biodiversity conservation. 2023 also marked the 50th anniversary of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).
2022 – Recovering Key Species for Ecosystem Restoration. This aims to draw attention to the conservation status of some of the most critically endangered species of plants and animals and, particularly, the dependence of entire ecosystems upon them.
2021 – Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet – This is to highlight the essential role of forests and their delicate ecosystems in sustaining the lives of millions of people globally. More than 200 million people live within or close to forests around the world, relying on them for their most basic needs including food and shelter. Without protection and management, the destruction of forest habitats will be a disaster for their human populations as well as their wildlife.
2020 – Sustaining All Life On Earth
2019 – Life Below Water
2018 – Big Cats: Predators Under Threat
How To Get Involved
Join people around the world in observing World Wildlife Day, and spread the word on social media using #WorldWildlifeDay. By simply showing an interest, you can help raise awareness. For more ideas about how to bring World Wildlife Day into your home, workplace, or class room, visit the official page website at www.wildlifeday.org/content/get_involved
