World Wildlife Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2013. It is celebrated around the world each year on 3 March. Kenyans united with thousands of people across the world in raising awareness of the pressing environmental challenges facing the continent. Under the theme "Wildlife is serious, let's get serious about crime."  15 tonnes of elephant ivory was set on fire  at Nairobi National Park and will burn to ashes  for five days under 24HR-armed surveillance . The destruction of illegal ivory by itself does not put an end to the illegal trade, however  it sends a powerful message that Kenya, does not accept and will not tolerate this illegal trade or the devastating impact it is having on the African elephant and on the livelihoods of rural communities.

Africa has about 500 000 elephants, down from 1.3 million in the 1970s.According to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a conservation charity based in Kenya, 36,000 African elephants were slaughtered last year to fuel the illicit ivory trade .It is estimated that one elephant is killed every 15 minutes. In June this last year Satao , the largest elephant that ever lived was killed to supply the demand for Ivory.

"Poaching is not only destroying precious ecosystems, it also poses a serious threat to socio-economic development.  The loss of biodiversity is directly linked to lost development opportunities in the African tourism sector, which provides livelihoods for millions of people" UNWTO Secretary General

This event took place in conjunction with Environment Day/Wangari Maathai Day under the theme "Empowering Women in sustainable natural resource management ". Which was started by the Organization of African Unity in 2002 as a tribute to the late Nobel laureate's Green Belt Movement legacy.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)  has organized a World Wildlife Week  celebrations which  commenced on 31^st February to 7^th of March 2015 as a way to raise of raising educating and raising  awareness of benefits of biodiversity conservations and urgent need to stop illegal wildlife poaching .Part of the activities include road tours and concerts, talks and educational forums for children and youths at Universities , Primary and  High schools,  exhibitions by different organizations at KWS headquarters .

More Information:

www.wildlifeday.org/

http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2015-03-03/tourism-development-africa-challenged-wildlife-crime

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