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VideoApril 27, 2022

Working Together for Wildlife, People and Economies

Biodiversity has become increasingly threatened due to land-use change, overexploitation, and climate change, which has led to a precipitous 68% decline in the population of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles since 1970. The presence of wildlife ensures that an ecosystem can function effectively and provides communities and countries with socio-economic benefits through wildlife-based livelihoods such as tourism. However, wildlife crime is undermining conservation and jeopardizing efforts to develop economic opportunities for communities that live around protected areas.The World Bank-led Global Wildlife Program is a global partnership on wildlife conservation and crime prevention for sustainable development. The program is responding to the threats to endangered species populations by combating illegal wildlife trade and promoting wildlife-based economies. With $230 million funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Global Wildlife Program brings together 32 national governments in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean along with 7 GEF agencies (ADB, CI, IUCN, UNDP, UNEP, World Bank and WWF) and many partners to work together towards wildlife conservation.