On the frontline of conservation
ON THE FRONTLINE OF CONSERVATION
BORN FREE’S SARAH LOCKE PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE TO PROTECT WILDLIFE THIS WORLD RANGER DAY
Did you know that 1,000 rangers have lost their lives in the last 10 years on the frontline of conservation?
All over the world, from Asia to Africa, from the USA to Australia, rangers work tirelessly to conserve our natural biodiversity from poaching, habitat loss and illegal wildlife trade.
World Ranger Day (31st July) is dedicated to those courageous men and women who put themselves in danger protecting our wild species and wild places. The initiative was created by the Born Free-supported Thin Green Line, an organisation that raises funds for the families, husbands and wives of rangers who have lost their lives in the field.
Born Free funds ranger patrols around the world, including in Kenya and Ethiopia, and the job is as diverse and as it is dangerous. The team have to be trained in a number of skills such as wildlife tracking, self-defence, first aid and human-wildlife coexistence strategies.
In Ethiopia, Babile Elephant Sanctuary is an expanse of 7,000 km2 and here, rangers ensure humans and elephants can live alongside one another as part of ongoing elephant conservation. They are trained to construct chilli fences that perturb grazing elephants from raiding crops, protect the 1,900 elephants that remain from poaching and work with district governments to reduce human expansion into the sanctuary.
Frequently the job takes rangers to locations already chaotic with conflict. The Democratic Republic of Congo is one such place, where natural resources are at the very heart of clashes on the ground and make this occupation even more dangerous.
In April 2018, five rangers and their driver were killed in Virunga National Park, DRC. As Africa’s oldest national park and a vital stronghold for species such as mountain gorillas and forest elephants, Virunga is just one example of an incredibly important natural space that desperately requires protection from exponential levels of poaching and a lucrative extractive industry, in this case charcoal.
Even in places less obviously dangerous, there is always a risk involved. Only last week, a SANPark ranger was killed in Kruger National Park, South Africa when his K9 unit approached a group of poachers they had been tracking.
The Thin Green Line, supported by Born Free and Born Free USA, ensures that support and funding goes directly to the essential grassroots initiatives that help protect nature’s protectors.
