UN's World Wildlife Day Website Now Live

World Wildlife Day, as resolved by the Untied Nations late last year, is to be held on March 3, and in the days leading up to the event, the new World Wildlife Day website was launched Friday.

John E. Scanlon, Secretary General of CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - made the new website's inaugural post, highlighting World Wildlife Day as a time for reflection and celebration of the remarkable biodiversity on Earth.

"Wildlife now has its own special day on the United Nations calendar. On the 3rd of March we will for the first time ever celebrate World Wildlife Day," Scanlon said. "The 3rd of March is the opportunity for all of us - no matter who we are or where we are - to celebrate the beauty and variety of the millions of plants and animals that we share our planet with."

A promotional timer featuring the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start of the first World Wildlife Day is featured on the site, as well as a variety of tabs with information about event schedules, other UN organizations and outreach information, and a Twitter feed.

So far, official World Wildlife Day events are scheduled in Geneva and Tokyo.

Scanlon used the platform of a new website again highlight the damage being done to ecosystems and endangered species around the world by the illegal wildlife trade.

"This illegal trade is now threatening the survival of some of our most charismatic species, as well as some plants and animals you may never have heard of," he said. "So as we are celebrating wildlife let's do whatever we can - as citizens and as consumers - to bring this illegal trade to an end. Let's work for a future where people and wildlife coexist in harmony."

Use #worldwildlifeday to get involved in the conservation and visit the website at www.wildlifeday.org