Go Wild for Life - World Environment Day 2016

World Environment Day (WED) is one of the significant annual events celebrated on the 5^th of June every year all across the globe with the aim to protect and nurture nature.  The vision of WED is to raise global awareness about the importance of a green and healthy environment as well as to implement positive environmental action and policies or amendments against environmental issues. WED engages over millions of people from several countries and makes people aware that everyone is responsible for rescuing the environment and not only certain organisations and governments.

In 2016, WED will be hosted by Angola, an African country. The theme this year is Go Wild for Life. It will concentrate on topics such as conservation of wildlife and illegal trade of wildlife. The slogan is ‘Join the race to make the world a better place’. Every year, the celebration is planned according to the theme and slogan to bring more effectiveness to environmental issues.
Image Source: www.policyinnovations.org

Various activities are planned to celebrate this great event by different countries to encourage people to make the world a better place. These campaigns are covered by several news channels which help to create a huge impact, to widen the celebration and to spread the message to people for effective and positive change.

Some facts and figures concerning illegal trade in wildlife:

1)    In 2010–2012, about 100,000 elephants were killed out of an estimated amount of less than 500,000 elephants. Also from 2009 to 2014, about 170 tonnes of ivory was illegally exported out of Africa.

2)    According to International Union for Conservation of Nature, 1,338 rhinos were killed in 2015, and the killing of rhinos has increased to about 90% since 2007.

In 2016, Chimpanzees are now extinct in certain parts of Africa and about 3,000 great apes are lost every year.

3)    The pangolin is the world’s most illegally trafficked animal in the world over the past decade.

4)    Illegal trade is estimated at 15–20 billion annually, and 1,000 park rangers are killed every year.

5)    About 11–26 tonnes of fish are illegally traded which is unreported and unregulated.

So, here are 5 different ways to celebrate WED in 2016:

• Pledge to be fur-free or do not buy/wear any fur.
  
  
• Use social media to amplify this year’s WED theme and help raise awareness.
  
  
• Start a campaign in your neighbourhood and donate the collected amount to a nearby conservation centre.
  
  
• Join several environmental groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Billion Tree Campaign and Save Wildlife and serve to protect the world.


•   Change starts on a personal level. So, rehabilitate your natural habitat and apply the habits of reduce, reuse and recycle.