Amplifying The Voices Of Female Wildlife Rangers
World Female Ranger Week, the pioneering global awareness week, spearheaded by international NGO, How Many Elephants (HME) celebrates and supports female wildlife rangers. Women rangers are bold, changing the game and paving the way for women to stand alongside men at the forefront of conservation, but they need allies.
Champions:
Building on their success of World Female Ranger Week last year, reaching over 500 million viewers worldwide, this year’s event was set to be even bigger. There were be online and live events, global media interviews, plus a fundraising platform to raise vital funds for the rangers worldwide.
As champions of wildlife conservation, role models, educators and beacons of hope, female rangers are not only transforming attitudes towards the role of women around the world; they are showing the capabilities and success of females in traditionally male roles. However, less than 11% of the global wildlife ranger workforce is female. With women being natural communicators, protectors and investing their earned income in their families, bringing gender equality into the workforce is enhancing community conservation efforts and relationships.
Solutions:
The founder of How Many Elephants and World Female Ranger Week, Holly Budge says, “Having patrolled with multiple ranger teams across Africa, I’ve seen first-hand how these bold women are impacting lives; protecting wildlife, uplifting communities and empowering other women. WFRW highlights the significant gender imbalance in environmental conservation. My team and I will continue collating gender-specific data about female rangers globally, enabling us to identify their needs, find tangible solutions and help build effective policies to contribute towards positive outcomes; for female rangers and conservation as a whole.”The pandemic crippled tourism and funding for conservation projects globally. The lack of tourists visiting national parks led to many rangers losing their jobs or having significant salary cuts. The knock-on effect of this was huge. For example, one ranger in Africa may support up to 16 family members. Additionally, reduced vigilance in tourist hotspots left wildlife even more vulnerable to poaching.
Stigma:
The often-challenging work of rangers is paramount right now. Day and night, female rangers patrol wilderness areas, monitor wildlife, seize snares, work with communities and in some cases, arrest poachers, all to protect nature. Some rangers are away from their families for long periods, sometimes facing workplace security issues and battling social stigma.
Many of these women have overcome adversity, poverty, and marginalisation. Becoming a ranger has empowered them, turned them into breadwinners and property owners, and has allowed them access to higher education and much-needed healthcare.
Conflict:
Female rangers work in human elephant conflict zones, where large populations of elephants exist, like in Hwange National Park, where around 45,000 elephants roam freely, sometimes coming into close contact with local communities.
Human elephant conflict arises when elephants are forced into human settlements in search of food, water, or space, sometimes leading to the destruction of crops, loss of livestock, and even fatalities. For communities living on the fringes of protected areas like Hwange, the stakes are incredibly high. How Many Elephants is deeply committed to working towards a future where women and men work side by side to safeguard the planet’s precious biodiversity.
‘I’ve seen first-hand how female rangers are impacting lives through education. As role models, educators and beacons of hope, female rangers are transforming attitudes towards the role of women within their communities and around the world,” said Holly.
Impact:
In Hwange, the newest female recruits have already made a big impact. Their integration into the ranger units has brought fresh perspectives and new skills, supporting efforts to mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict.
The training for female rangers is as tough and thorough as it is for their male counterparts. It includes ‘Lala Vuka’ walking patrols, where the rangers carry their supplies and log natural springs for water sources testing their physical and mental endurance.
Holly and her team have identified over 4500 female rangers in 18 African countries so far, and over 5500 female rangers around the world.
“Investing in women and girls has far-reaching benefits for communities and countries. By involving women in conservation efforts, stronger, more resilient communities are built, better equipped to face the challenges of climate change and human-wildlife conflict,” says Holly. WFRW Ambassador, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka from Uganda, says “I’m delighted to support World Female Ranger Week. Gender equity in the conservation arena is such an important and prevalent topic. There is still much work to do but World Female Ranger Week plays a key role in raising awareness of the work of female rangers and women in conversation in the broader picture.”
HME welcomes strategic partnerships to expand the campaign’s reach to strengthen the support of female rangers.
Text: Martin Chemhere
From: Destination ZW Issue 11
