World Wildlife Day

Today is the inaugural World Wildlife Day, designated by the United Nations to:

• Celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora;
• Recall the privileged interactions between wildlife and populations across the globe, and
• Raise awareness of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.

As cruelty-free advocates, crazy cat people and general lovers of wildlife, we’re thrilled to work with a great range of suppliers working in harmony with animals – from cruelty free certified and no animal testing products, Vegan or Vegetarian, Organic, Biodegradable, FSC certified or even Bee Friendly. All of these products can help reduce the impact on valuable wildlife habitats, and animals themselves. Our Good Guides highlight all the ways you can shop.

Some notable highlights for today:

• Greenpeace are promoting one of their latest campaigns, to stop deforestation of the rainforest by suppliers of a major shampoo brand
• WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) and @wspauk are celebrating wildlife and what inspires us to protect it
• WWF check up on their favourite species and what is currently being done to protect them.
• And something we recognise closer to home, the great British hedgehog is under continued threat – over a quarter of the population has been lost in the last decade alone and a shocking decline from 36 million to less than 1 million in the UK since the 1950s. Find out what you can do to help at http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Tell us what our wildlife means to you by joining in our comments below, or on Twitter or Facebook. What are your favourite animals, or your favourite animal-friendly products?

Check out the tweets pouring in on the hashtag #WorldWildlifeDay and find out what organisations and individuals around the world are doing to help protect wildlife.

As the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “Let us work for a future where people and wildlife coexist in harmony. Let’s go wild for wildlife!” – we couldn’t agree more!

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© Images kindly donated by Nicholas Armitt via Flickr. Logo copyright of World Wildlife Day and CITES.