The United Nations World Wildlife Day 2016 (WWD2016) will be celebrated on 3 March under the theme “The future of wildlife is in our hands”. African and Asian elephants will be the global focus of the Day under the theme “The future of elephants is in our hands”.
In an effort to raise awareness of wildlife conservation particularly the challenges facing some protected species such as African and Asian elephants and to inspire citizens across the globe to add their voices and to use their artistic talents, the CITES Secretariat, as the global facilitator for the celebration of this global day, launches today a contest of poster designs that can be used to illustrate the theme of WWD2016.
Concept note and key messages
The theme of WWD2016 is a call to all citizens around the world to play a role in protecting the amazing wild animals and plants who share the planet with us. Habitat loss, climate change and poaching are among the most alarming challenges faced by wildlife today. Poaching and trafficking of ivory is now the most serious immediate threat to African elephants. Around 100,000 African elephants are estimated to be slaughtered in 3 years to feed the demand for ivory.
The key message the theme of WWD2016 tries to impart is that human beings hold the future of all wildlife in their hands. Failure to take actions now will have immediate, sometimes devastating, consequences to some species of animals and plants. The graphics should communicate this key message - “In Our Hands”. We, either as mankind in a collective sense, or as an individual, all have a role to play. Everyone can give a hand. Everyone can help spread the words. Let’s all say ‘No’ to illegal wildlife and their products. Together we can avert the crisis.
Contest period
Contest Begins: 22 January 2016
Contest Ends: 3 March 2016
Who can enter
Anyone of any age can enter this contest, and it is open to all people in all countries. Children below the age of 13 will need to have their parents’ permission, and will need to have their parents’ (or a legal guardian’s) help with their submissions.
Specifications
Art work must be original, submitted by the artist. Entries must be two dimensional using either traditional methods (pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, oil paint, acrylic paint, watercolour, etc.) or modern digital illustration process. Digital illustration in vector format will be preferable.
As all art work must be fully original, no entries will be accepted or considered if they are deemed to use in whole or part derivative images which could be considered plagiaristic.
Entries can be submitted to [email protected], but preferably via a cloud server such as Google Drive or Dropbox (please use shashika.sedara-hettige @ cites.org for submissions done using Dropbox).
Once selected, the winning designer must be able to work with the organizer to adapt the winning design into various formats.
The maximum size of the file to be uploaded should be no more than 10 MB.
Judging
All entries will be judged using the same criteria: creativity, composition, theme and technique.
Contest prizes
Three winners will be provided free air tickets to attend the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17) to be held from 24 September to 5 October 2016, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The tickets will be sponsored by the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa.
Conditions
The CITES Secretariat shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may occur by entering this contest and the CITES Secretariat reserves the right to make changes to the rules of the contest without prior notification.
Contact
For questions about the contest: shashika.sedara-hettige @ cites.org
For media queries: [email protected]
Legal note
Those making submissions agree that the CITES Secretariat retains all copyrights of the materials submitted. By submitting to the contest, the designer agrees to grant the CITES Secretariat the right to publish, reproduce, diffuse, and communicate to the public in any form and platform, including digital, all or in part of the design.
Files uploaded to the contest should be solely images of the artwork and not contain photographic images of the contestant nor other individuals.