World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2021 under the theme “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet,” to highlight the central role of forests, forest species, and ecosystem services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, particularly Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas. This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13, and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments to alleviating poverty, ensuring the sustainable use of resources, and conserving life on land.
Between 200 and 350 million people live within or adjacent to forested areas around the world, relying on the various ecosystem services provided by forests and forest species for their livelihoods and to meet their most basic needs, including food, shelter, energy, and medicines.
Roughly 28% of the world’s land area is currently managed by indigenous peoples, including some of the most ecologically intact forests on the planet. These areas are not only central to their economic and personal well-being, but also to their cultural identities.
Forests, forest species, and the livelihoods that depend on them are currently at the center of the multiple global crises we face, ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss and the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This day will celebrate forest-based livelihoods and seek to promote forest and wildlife management practices that balance human well-being with the long-term conservation of forests, while highlighting the value of traditional practices that help foster a more sustainable relationship with these vital natural systems.