WWD2017: WWF RDC sensitized students on the protection of endangered species of wild fauna & flora

This year, the United Nations World Wildlife Day was celebrated on March 3, 2017 (WWD2017) under the theme "Listen to the Young people voice ".
In the DRC, WWF has celebrated this day with students of the University of Kinshasa in a conference entitled "Protect the sites that shelter endangered species of wild fauna and flora" in the Msgr. Luc Gillon room aiming to sensitize the Congolese youth on the stakes of the conservation of the nature. Speakers included the Representative of the Minister of the Environment, the Ambassador of the United States of America, the Director of ICCN, the Rector of the University of Kinshasa, the Dean of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences as well as the WWF-DRC Country Director.
Wild species have intrinsic value and contribute in a variety of ways to the sustainable development and well-being of populations, including environmental, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic.
World Wildlife Day 2017 gives us another chance to engage young people in conservation issues. It is also an opportunity for them to engage in a dialogue with each other and, together, to chart a new pathway to a better world. Young people can also express themselves by developing strategies to reduce the demand to curb illegal wildlife trade in the future, and discuss issues around the ecologically sustainable use of wildlife and how it is possible to benefit locally.
Last year, WWF's 2016 Living Planet Report and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) showed that by 2020 there could be a 67% decline in world populations of fish, birds, mammals, Amphibians and reptiles, which have already declined by 58% between 1970 and 2012. The report shows that human activities exert enormous pressure on wildlife species at an unprecedented level in history.