Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi Celebrates World Wildlife Day

At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi our school values are clear; 

Aim High. 
Work Hard. 
Be Kind and Respectful. 
Make a Difference.

These values are lived each day by our staff, students and parents. In our Making a Difference series of articles, we will explore how we, as a community, strive to make the world a better place.

On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March – the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.

World Wildlife Day 2021 is celebrated under the theme "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet", as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas.

Did you know?

1. As many as 350 million people live within or adjacent to forested areas around the world. They rely on the ecosystem services provided by forests and forest species to meet their essential needs.
2. For centuries, forests have acted as a safety net for hundreds of millions of people, providing sustenance, fuel and medicines, and feeding animals communities depend on when crops fail.
3. The economic effects of COVID-19 threaten both forest livelihoods and the incentives for the conservation of these ecosystems. Plans for recovery must include efforts to preserve forests, forest species and livelihoods.
4. Globally, up to 1.6 billion people, including many of the poorest communities on the planet, rely on forests and forest species for subsistence, livelihoods and income generation.
5. About 2.4 billion people, a third of the world’s population, use wood fuel for basic energy needs such as cooking, sterilizing water or heating homes.
6.  Nearly a third of the world’s land surface is currently managed by indigenous peoples. This includes some of the most ecologically intact forest ecosystems on the planet.
7. Over 300 million members of Indigenous peoples and local communities from around the world live in forests and primarily depend on them for their livelihoods.
8. Nearly all forests on the planet are inhabited, with indigenous and other groups having developed unique ways of life and knowledge of how to sustainably use and conserve forest species and ecosystems.
9. Forests are home to 80% of all terrestrial wildlife. The ecosystems they sustain are essential to global biodiversity, human livelihoods and the broader needs of societies and economies globally. 
10. Roughly 66% of the world’s forest area lies within the territories of just 10 countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, USA, China, Australia, DRC, Indonesia, Peru and India. 
11. Forests absorb nearly one-third of all CO2 released from burning fossil fuels every year. Forest restoration could remove another 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
12. Forest loss, degradation and fragmentation accelerate climate breakdown and of biodiversity loss. This threatens the global food and water security and it imperils the safety and the livelihoods of millions of people.
13. About half of the world’s tropical forests are considered intact, but less than 7% of these forests are under some form of legal protection.
14. We currently face a quadruple planetary emergency: a climate crisis, a biodiversity-loss crisis, an inequality crisis, and a global health crisis. Forests and forest communities are at the center of each of these challenges.

Join us to celebrate the 2021 World Wildlife Day!

Let’s all ask ourselves the question: What are we doing to support ecosystems and biodiversity?

How can you get involved? Learn more at https://www.wildlifeday.org/ and Make a Difference!