Context: World Wildlife Day is celebrated on March 3 every year to raise awareness about issues that impact wildlife.
Key Points

• Earth is home to innumerable species, and each one of them plays an important role in balancing the environment. 
• It can be found in all ecosystems, deserts, rainforests, plains, and other areas.
• This year, World Wildlife Day will celebrate forest-based livelihoods and seek to promote forest and forest wildlife management models and practices so that humans and animals can co-exist. 
• The aim is to promote sustainable ways of human survival which doesn't destroy the natural habitat of wildlife species.

As we know, the world’s wildlife count and sustainability have dwindled significantly in the past decade. 

• United Nations noted, “Though World Wildlife Day is an annual celebration, wildlife conservation is an issue that needs attention and action every day.

Theme: This year, the UN has announced the theme as “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet.”
History

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 was signed on March 3, therefore, the 68th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) announced on December 20, 2013, the same day would be celebrated as World Wildlife Day. 
• The idea was proposed by Thailand. 
• The CITES is one of the most powerful measures against illegal trading which often results in wildlife extinction as member countries and monitoring bodies keep a keen eye on hunting and trading activities. 
• India is one of the contracting parties of CITES.

Significance

• It is a way to highlight how important forests and ecosystems they sustain are important for human livelihoods. 
• The focus is more on “Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas,” this number is roughly 28% of land use globally. 
• The UN goals of decreasing poverty along with ensuring that resources are used sustainably lines up well in this theme.
• The UN noted that nearly 200 and 350 million people either live within/adjacent to forests globally or are directly dependant on forest resources for life and livelihood.
• It is of utmost importance that people realize how important it is that different species and their natural habitats survive so ultimately they can live hassle-free.
• The forests around us and dependent communities are under direct threat due to multiple crises like climate change, biodiversity loss and the health etc. 
• They also said this year is especially critical due to the “social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”