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Listen to Young Voices: Lend your voice to Wildlife on World Wildlife Day

GET INVOLVED IN SURREY: Speak up for the world’s wildlife.

DSWF is opening its doors this half term ahead of the United Nations World Wildlife Day, inviting young people to voice their thoughts and concerns for wildlife.

With the 2017 World Wildlife Day theme ‘Listen to Young Voices’ the charity aims to gather video clips of young people (up to the age of 24) talking about what wildlife means to them and how we can work to protect it and help raise awareness for wildlife conservation.

“According to the United Nations Population Fund, some 1.8 billion people, or nearly one-quarter of the world’s population, is aged between 10 and 24, the age range defined by the United Nations as “youth”. Yet, concerns have been raised about trends in young people’s environmental attitudes, beliefs and behaviours, suggesting a decline in personal responsibility for wildlife conservation and environment as a whole among young people,” says DSWF Communications Manager, Vicky Flynn.

“We want to bring young voices together to create a powerful video message that shows just how passionate young people are about wildlife.”

The video will become part of the global day for wildlife on March 3. Whether you want to express how much you love elephants or what a tree in your garden means to you or tell us what you are doing to protect wildlife DSWF would love to hear from you.

Founder and president of DSWF, the wildlife artist and conservationist David Shepherd said: “Given the current rate of poaching and smuggling, will future generations one day speak of elephants, rhinoceros and many other endangered species as we speak of mammoths: magnificent creatures belonging to the past? We must not and will not allow this to happen. I am confident that many young people will lend their support and their voice to this global awareness campaign and show just how much they care for the future of wildlife on this planet.”

To record your video message you can either pop into the DSWF office at 7 Kings Road, Shalford between 9am-5pm Monday 13 – Friday 17 February or email your video message (landscape format and no longer than 1 minute) to dswf@davidshepherd.org with the subject title ‘Listen to young voices’. If you are under 16 please make sure you have your parent or carers permission to take part.

About World Wildlife Day 2017 

The UN World Wildlife Day will be celebrated on 3 March 2017 (WWD2017) under the theme “Listen to young voices”.

CITES Secretary-General, John E. Scanlon, said:  “It is the responsibility of each generation to safeguard wildlife for the following generation. We have not yet succeeded in securing the future of the world’s wildlife. Meeting this challenge will now be shared with the next generation. To succeed we must fully harness the innovation and energy of youth, and combine it with the wisdom that comes with experience, if we are to make the change we need to happen. We are confident that some young people will dedicate their lives to the conservation of wildlife which is such a great cause, yet our hope is that all the youth will be personal ambassadors for wildlife conservation — which is key to our future survival: people, animals and plants. This is the message behind the theme ‘Listen to young voices’.”

Click here for more about WWD2017

Get involved and lend your voice to World Wildlife Day (Image Georgina Lamb/DSWF)

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