Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Rohan Perera was invited by the CITES Secretariat to make opening remarks at the celebration to mark World Wildlife Day at the United Nations Headquarters on 1st March 2019 under the theme “Life Below Water: for the People and Planet”.
In his opening remarks Ambassador Perera stated that Sri Lanka was proud to host the COP18 of the Conference on International Trade on Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Colombo in May this year. He added that as a country rich in biodiversity, Sri Lanka took its responsibilities seriously to protect marine life and hosting the COP18 conference was a reflection of this commitment. He added that the country had enacted numerous laws to protect marine life and is party to several key international conventions on the protection of fauna and flora. Dr. Perera also drew attention to Sri Lanka’s efforts to combat illegal trade and poaching of marine species and to combat other threats to marine life such as climate change and plastic pollution.
Speakers at the event also included Ivonne Siguero, Secretary General of CITES, Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Cristian Samper, President of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Adrian Grenier, United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador and Jurgen Schulz, the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations.
