The World Wildlife Day is celebrated on March 3 every year. It is always an opportunity to rethink wildlife, both plants, and animals. Most importantly, World Wildlife Day is marked to create awareness toward the huge benefits humans and the ecosystem derive from wildlife conservation.
The AUN community joined millions of nature lovers around the world to celebrate this year’s Wildlife Day as it understands the value of wildlife sustainability and the importance of protecting mother nature.
AUN, a Sustainability-themed community, has always supported wildlife and Conservation. AUN adopts proactive measures to ensure the protection of the ecosystem such as creating green zones suitable for habitation, increased sensitization for wildlife protection which is in collaboration with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), creating awareness in students through bird-watching competitions which also aim at developing their interest in wildlife.
Instructor of Ecology and Conservation Biology in the Natural & Environmental Sciences (NES) program, Ms. Jennifer Che, who organized activities that included a photo session, brought together both students and staff in promoting the 2020 World Wildlife Day theme "Sustaining all Life on Earth". The theme is a reminder to the world of the urgent need to step up to wildlife crime and human-induced reduction of species, which have multiple economic, environmental and social impacts.
Ms. Jennifer gave insight into ways we can sustain wildlife, pointing out that littering and improper waste disposal are major problems. She added that when waste products are not properly disposed or dumped in water the animals become exposed to poisoning, suffocation, drowning or they become disease vectors.
She said the World Wildlife Day shows the connection between man, plants and animals, that we are all one in the same planet, and share the same resources to ensure our survival.
“Nothing is out there randomly, no living organism exists randomly. The animals provide a function which ultimately maintains the ecosystem”.
“Everything is connected; it’s like a jigsaw puzzle when you take one piece out, everything falls apart.”
Reported by Inyene Ikpe