World Female Ranger Week (June 23-30), spearheaded by international NGO, How Many Elephants, celebrates and supports female wildlife rangers who are changing the game and paving the way for women to stand alongside men at the forefront of conservation.
Building on the success of World Female Ranger Week last year, which reached over 500 million viewers worldwide, this year’s event is set to be even bigger. There will 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, 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, reportedly less than 11% of the global wildlife ranger workforce is female.
Founder of How Many Elephants and World Female Ranger Week, Holly Budge, said: “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. World Female Ranger Week 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.
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.
Budge and her team have identified over 4 500 female rangers in 18 African countries so far, and over 5 500 female rangers around the world, including in Guyana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Tasmania and Scotland, to mention a few.
World Female Ranger Week Ambassador, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka from Uganda, said: “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 conservation in the broader picture.”
How Many Elephants is looking to attract strategic partnerships to expand the campaign’s reach to strengthen the support of female rangers.
