In India, Wildlife Week is annually observed from October 2 to October 8 across the country with an aim to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of India.
- The 2021 Wildlife Week, the 67th edition, is being celebrated with the theme ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet’.
- Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav started the Wildlife Week celebrations by tiger rallies in 18 tiger range States across 51 reserves in the country as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with the theme ‘India for Tigers – A Rally on Wheels’.
Objective of the Wildlife Week
i.To create awareness among people on the conservation and protection of the wildlife.
ii.To implement more measures to preserve the wildlife.
iii.To discuss all the issues related to the preservation of the wildlife.
About 2021 Theme
i.The 2021 Wildlife Week is celebrated under the theme ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet’. The above mentioned theme is the same which was observed in 2021 WildLife Day i.e., March 3rd 2021.
ii.With an aim to highlight the role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally and particularly of indigenous and local communities.
iii.The 2021 theme aligns with a few of UN Sustainable Development Goals and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life land.
About Wildlife Week
i.The idea of Wildlife Week was conceptualised by the Indian Board of Wildlife in 1952 to raise awareness on the long term goals of protecting the wildlife of India.
ii.Initially, in 1955 the Wildlife day was celebrated which was later upgraded as the Wildlife Week in 1957.
Additional information
i.The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is a statutory board constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (wildlife act).
ii.It is a 47-member committee, headed by the Prime Minister and the minister of environment, forest and climate change as vice chairperson.
