World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on 3 March to commemorate the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Washington on 3 March 1973. On this day, institutions and organisations of all kinds around the world, as well as the general public, are called upon to draw attention to the importance of wild animal and plant species for humans and the ongoing global loss of biodiversity through a variety of campaigns.