Monitor News Bureau
By Tuba Naquib
The Earth is large enough for all to share, but the mankind heart is not large enough to care’. This is so beautifully said by AD Williams that gives us a deeper meaning of the man’s greed. Man has become so greedy to achieve all his comforts and leisure that if the key to run the world were in his hands, then the world would have to shut. This is what the kingdom of wildlife is facing at the hands of the human beings. The term wildlife not only caters to the wild animals but has been broadened in the meaning to encompass the birds, insects, plants, fungi and the other microscopic organisms.
Wildlife is a jewel for the whole world. The economical, ecological, biological, and investigatory benefits of a rich wildlife cannot be neglected. It is so important that it helps the people to earn money as it provides them with timber, medicine, fibre, meat, hide, ivory, fur, silk, and much more. Besides the economic benefits, it also helps us to gain ecologically. Wildlife is so much valuable in terms of maintaining the environmental stability, and the overall balance of the whole ecosystem. But we humans, because of our own greed, consider wildlife important only in terms of the economic benefits.
We always try to close off our eyes towards the other important factor that is ecology. If we start looking carefully about its importance, we will realise that the actual point of conservation comes for the ecological aspect. We cruel species, who although are made by Almighty to be the kindest of all, are making the living of these species rather impossible. The entire wildlife is facing some great threats including threat to their survival, to their habitat, over exploitation, poaching, pollution (air, water, toxic chemicals), culling, climate change, displacement etc. Each organism on this earth has a unique place in the food chain that helps in contributing to making the ecosystem special in its own way.
From the colourful tiny insects and the gigantic water animals, to the exotic species of flora, this world has been designed so beautifully and each species has been given a special place to make this world a beautiful place to live in.
Each year, March 3 is celebrated as World Wildlife Day just to remind us of the rich biodiversity that exists on earth and the care it needs from humans. This important day was marked as the World Wildlife Day on 20 Dec 2013. The United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, proclaimed March 3 – the day of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day. This day is being celebrated to create awareness about the growing threat against the wildlife and also that the International trade does not affect the survival of flora and fauna. This day has been dedicated to these dearest species of our beautiful world. As the problem of the exploitation against the wildlife is growing at an alarming rate around the globe, all the people need to come together and stand against all these ills. The day came into being and is growing in importance with each passing year.
This year, the theme of World Wildlife Day is ‘Sustaining all life on Earth’. It has been emphasised that by celebrating this day for the wildlife, we would care for the big and the small wild animals and plants and also give them the love and nurturing they deserve. Now it is our duty to do a bit from our end to help conserve and protect animals as well as the plants. Let us pledge today to rededicate ourselves towards the conservation and protection of these species. Also, we need to learn that not only this day but all other days, we should dedicate our efforts to protect and preserve these speechless creatures who give us so much but get so little. In the end, we need to know that conservation of wildlife is survival of our future.
The author is a class XI student at Presentation Convent, Srinagar.
