The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), its Wild for Life campaign, and its Vanishing Treasures programme, invite you on an amazing virtual journey which takes you across four mountain regions to visit and learn about some of the iconic endangered species that roam these wild spaces.
Awe-inspiring videos and fun quizzes help you learn about conservation efforts to maintain the delicate balance between animals and plants in the Tien Shan mountains in northern China; the Virunga mountains in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda; the “third pole” Hindu Kush Himalaya mountain region in south-central Asia; and Europe’s last great wilderness, the seven-country-straddling Carpathian Mountains.
Background to the campaign:
Nature sustains all life on earth, but nature is under threat. In May 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report confirmed that the world’s biosphere, “upon which humanity as a whole depends,” is declining faster than at any time in human history.
One million wild plant and animal species are facing extinction – many within decades. Three-quarters of the land-based environment, eighty-five per cent of wetlands, and two-thirds of oceans have been significantly and negatively altered by human activity.
Further, the Illegal Trade in Wildlife is driving species to the brink of extinction while posing environmental, economic, development and security risks. But we can reverse this trend. Countries around the world, the United Nations, international and national organizations, businesses, governments and key opinion leaders are all working together to raise awareness, enact and enforce stronger laws, and step up support to local communities’ efforts to stop the illegal trade in wildlife.
You can be part of this too. Together, let’s make it our mission to bring species back from the brink and preserve and restore nature for the benefit of people and the environment.
