PORT Macquarie Koala Hospital, the Mid North Coast Koala Recovery Partnership and Taronga Zoo will present at a joint panel session, 'Wildfires and Wildlife', at the Paley Centre in the United Nations, New York, on March 3.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The event is part of United Nations World Environment Day
With an estimated 1.25 billion native animals perishing in the bushfires that travelled down the east coast of Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, the presentation is timely.
It will remind the world that a number of species, including koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and echidnas, and ecosystems, have been severely impacted as well as less well-known species of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Thousands of the iconic Australian marsupials, the koala, may have perished in the fires in the state of New South Wales alone, and these numbers continue to rise.
World Wildlife Day 2020 will celebrate the special place of wild plants and animals in their many varied and beautiful forms as a component of the world's biological diversity.
The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Jackson Wild have teamed up to organise an international film showcase to highlight wildlife as a part of the world's biological diversity.
The Film Showcase will serve to further illustrate the theme of the 2020 UN World Wildlife Day: Sustaining all Life on Earth. This encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity, as well as the livelihoods of people, especially those who live closest to nature.
Clinical director for the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Cheyne Flanagan, will represent the hospital.
"I believe, we can all make a difference. Together our voice is stronger and wildlife needs our support. In Australia, all species have lost habitat due to the catastrophic fires over the summer," Ms Flanagan said.
"I feel deeply honoured to represent Australia, Australian wildlife and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital at this prestigious event."
Cheyne Flanagan, Dr Rebecca Montague-Drake from the Koala Recovery Partnership and Dr Nick Boyle from Taronga Zoo will be conducting media interviews and observing the UN Ambassadors discussion during the day session.
World Wildlife Day began on 20 December 2013, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3rd March - the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1973 - as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild animals and plants.
World Wildlife Day has now become the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.
