HomeTHE GAME RANGER"We have lived in the best time and seen the wonders of wildlife...and belong to a brotherhood the members of which have memories that cannot be matched..."Sir Alfred Pease.
"We have lived in the best time and seen the wonders of wildlife...and belong to a brotherhood the members of which have memories that cannot be matched..."Sir Alfred Pease.
What is a Game Ranger?
In Africa, the Game Ranger goes by many different titles - Game Ranger, Game Warden, Conservation Officer, and many more, yet all are essentially the wildlife managers and the field force in Africa, working at the "coal face" of conservation. In Africa the prime responsibility of the Game Ranger is to ensure the territorial integrity and safety of the protected area under his/her management. Their tasks are multi-faceted and include; ensuring the day to day health and well-being of the game, research and monitoring, game capture and introductions, population management, burning programs, infrastructure and equipment maintenance, public relations, environmental education, and, crucially, local community relations, liaison and involvement. Added to these are the normal day to day financial controls, human resource planning and administration, which must also be carried out.
Theirs is often a difficult, dangerous and thankless task for which they receive very little remuneration and recognition and seemingly minuscule support both morally and financially.
For their dedication, many have in the past, and no doubt will in future, pay with their lives.
Game Ranging
is a field that encompasses many aspects of conservation work and includes, but is not restricted to the following :-
Territorial integrity and law enforcement:
Actively combat potential or actual threats to the area of management.
Natural studies and scientific support:
Study, monitor, record and report on natural occurrences and phenomenon, and field collection of data and samples.
Management planning and implementation:
Planning and carrying out of actions - inclusive of at least the following; erosion and alien plant control, fire management and game population control.
Sustainable resource utilisation:
Promote the value of , and prevent the degradation/destruction of natural resources.
Environmental education:
Contribute towards a public general awareness of conservation.
Community relations:
Contribute towards acceptance by, and cooperation of, neighbouring communities in conservation management.
THE PRESENT STATUS
In Africa, there are pockets of expertise where the professional standard of Rangers is amongst the highest in the world. However, the general level of expertise is steadily diminishing. Unless halted, this will result in a conservation catastrophe for the continent.
The past twenty years have seen vast natural areas in Africa destroyed and denuded of viable wildlife populations.
Illegal Coltan mining in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in rare lowland gorillas and chimpanzees being slaughtered and eaten. The gorilla population alone has been reduced from an estimated 8000 to around 1000 in less than three years.
In 1975, Rwanda's Virunga National Park boasted the world's largest concentration of hippos - an estimated 35,000. By1998 this had fallen to 2000 and today there are no longer even reliable statistics available. Excluding those killed during the civil war, around 80 game rangers have been murdered in the DRC whilst on patrol.
Zambia openly admits that poachers rule its largest game reserve, the 22,400 sq. km Kafue National Park, due to a chronic shortage of game rangers. Conservationists say that at least 2000 are needed to professionally manage a park of that size. In fact there are less than 500 with inadequate equipment and facilities. The rhino population has already succumbed to the poacher's gun and the insatiable demands of oriental medicine and the bush meat trade flourishes unchecked in a rapidly declining animal population. Zambian Tourist Ministry spokesman, Gabriel Tembo said," Kafue has been hit so heavily by poachers that if something is not done soon we might end up with a national park and no animals."
Many species, such as black rhino, have been reduced to the verge of extinction. The sad fact is that at the dawn of the 21st century, in a morass of conflicting interests, political instability and indifference, Africa's irreplaceable wildlife resource is in crisis with habitat and species destruction taking place at unprecedented levels throughout the continent.
Reasons for this are complex, but do include insufficient funding, inadequate training, lack of equipment, ineffective leadership, lack of motivation, corruption and political interference.
It is clear that a balanced and viable future for the continent's unique wildlife heritage, and its desperately needed eco-tourist revenues, depends heavily on the training and development of a trustworthy and properly motivated corps of professional Rangers.
Eco-tourism, perhaps potentially Africa's greatest industry, is becoming increasingly important to local and national economies but this trade is relying on a continuously diminishing asset.
The underestimated and all too often misunderstood contribution of the Game Ranger or Game Warden is pivotal in the struggle to save Africa's remaining wildlife. However too many are being marginalised or even killed. Furthermore, a chronic shortage of responsibly targeted funds combined with an absence of support and encouragement contributes towards a severe diminution of the Game Ranger's effectiveness on the ground.
The most important remaining asset that conservation in Africa has is the existing reservoir of knowledge and expertise in wildlife management still possessed by many Rangers throughout the continent. The question is how to best use this expertise to the greatest advantage of conservation areas, local communities and fellow rangers.
The Future
Africa is unique. The natural assets of the continent surely cannot be equaled anywhere else on earth. Much of what has been destroyed can be rehabilitated, given adequate expertise and the will to do so. The expertise is in Africa but the funds are not. Conservation bodies are receiving less and less funding every year. If we are to save these last remnants of our heritage in Africa, we will undoubtedly need the backing and financial assistance of First World governments and the private sector.
The Game Rangers Association of Africa is confident that it has the credibility and the expertise to address many of the existing and future problems that conservation in Africa is expecting to face in the next millennium. These include such important specifics as management training, equipment and motivation.
The GRAA can make a solid and positive contribution to socio-economic upliftment in the region, as well as to the long-term conservation of areas of international importance.
It is important that people realise that the Game Rangers are the work force for conservation in Africa. The Rangers work at the "coal face" and without the Ranger ALL other conservation efforts, some of which cost many millions of dollars, will fail. Just one small example is the $30 million, which has been raised to move 1000 elephants into the Mozambique side of the GKG Transfrontier Park, but without trained Game Rangers in place in Mozambique these elephants will be poached and killed and all that money and effort will mean nothing.