Joint Statement by the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management for World Wildlife Day 2025
Geneva, 3 March 2025 — As we celebrate World Wildlife Day 2025, the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) - a coalition of thirteen international organizations—reaffirms its commitment to advancing sustainable wildlife management (SWM) through strategic cooperation, joint initiatives, and innovative financing.
This year’s theme, "Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet", highlights the urgent need to scale up financial resources for conservation and for ensuring sustainable use of wildlife. While public finance, overseas development assistance, and philanthropy remain fundamental funding sources, expanding traditional financing through innovative mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services, debt-for nature swaps, biodiversity credits, sustainable biodiversity-based economic activities, green bonds, and benefit-sharing schemes is critical.
Furthermore, private finance for nature has grown significantly, increasing elevenfold in just four years—from $9.4 billion to over $102 billion, as highlighted at the 3rd World Biodiversity Forum in Davos. Yet, despite this progress, a $700 billion annual funding gap persists for nature conservation. Additionally, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities continue to receive limited direct financial support.
Closing this gap requires strong partnerships, greater private sector engagement, and diverse financial mechanisms that ensure long-term sustainability. As a global partnership of key international organizations, the CPW could play a vital role in mobilizing funds through both traditional and innovative sources. With its strengthened capacity to develop and implement large-scale, high-impact initiatives, the CPW enhances credibility in fundraising, making it a more attractive investment for donors.
At the CPW Strategic Retreat held in Geneva in February 2025, back-to-back with the 78th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, the CPW partners agreed to collaborate on joint fundraising efforts to advance several ambitious joint initiatives, such as responding to requests from biodiversity-related conventions such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)contributing to the development of indicators for Targets 4, 5 and 9 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; and advancing the Wild Biodiversity Economy Initiative, ensuring sustainable and inclusive benefits for people and planet.
The year 2025 also marks a significant milestone: the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of CITES. Reflecting on this occasion, CPW Chair Ivonne Higuero, CITES Secretary-General, emphasized:
"The CPW brings together a wealth of expertise and experience in sustainable wildlife management, demonstrating the power of collaboration in supporting global commitments. We should seize the opportunity to collectively mobilize resources, ensuring that both wildlife and people thrive in a world that values the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. By working together, we can unlock new funding opportunities and drive higher impact solutions for nature and communities."
The Partnership collectively wishes everyone a Happy World Wildlife Day!
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About CITES
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed on 3 March 1973 and entered into force on 1 July 1975. With 185 Parties (184 countries + the European Union), it remains one of the world's most powerful tools for wildlife conservation through the regulation of international trade in over 40,900 species of wild animals and plants. CITES-listed species are used by people around the world in their daily lives for food, health care, furniture, housing, tourist souvenirs, cosmetics or fashion. CITES seeks to ensure that international trade in such species is sustainable, legal and traceable and contributes to both the livelihoods of the communities that live closest to them and to national economies for a healthy planet and the prosperity of the people in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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