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Taken from the International Ranger Federation July newsletter, “The Thin Green Line”.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Congolese Institute for the Protection of Nature, the
Alexander Abraham Foundation (a US based environmental group) and the Wildlife
Conservation Society have honoured the bravery, courage and dedication of 40
rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a number of them posthumously.
During the past 10 years, over 200 rangers have lost their lives protecting
the national parks and heritage sites from poachers; bandits and militia fighters
in the DRC.
Ghana
In Kyabobo National Park, Ghana, rangers Paul Nyame and Ntim
Obofor were fatally shot and another ranger was wounded when their patrol was
ambushed by a large group of armed men. A colleague has described the two rangers
as “loyal and committed to the end”. The Ghanaian government has
viewed this attack in a serious light and provided sustained support in the
form of resources and manpower resulting in a number of ring leaders being arrested.
South Africa
In Kruger National Park, South Africa, ranger Wilson Ndlovu
was trampled to death by an elephant while on park patrol. The South African
National Parks have renamed the patrol picket where Wilson was based in his
honour.
USA
We have learned with profound sadness and a deep sense of
loss of the tragic death of U.S. National Park Service ranger Jeff Christensen,
who fell while on a backcountry patrol. He was an exemplary ranger, sharing
with others the wonders of that he was privy to.
Poland
We are delighted to welcome the newly formed Polish Rangers
Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Slub Ochrony Przyrody) into the IRF ‘world
family’ of Rangers. May 21, 2005 marked the 10th anniversary of the very
first IRF World Congress in Zakopane, Poland. The vision of a “few good
men” four years earlier was realized when rangers from 35 countries across
the world stood for the raising of the IRF flag at this first congress. IRF
membership today consists of 42 regular members, two associate members and 12
provisional members – a total of 56 ranger associations worldwide.
Argentina
The IRF regional representative for South America, Marcelo
Ochoa, has been appointed by the Argentinean Administration of National Parks
(APN) as coordinator of a new training course financed by Japanese funding.
In the "ranger" section of the course, Marcelo plans to discuss ranger
profiles, ranger duties, competencies, codes of ethics, national ranger associations,
the IRF, etc. He has invited all rangers to send him information that should
be included in the course materials for this section of the course.
Australia
Cassie Wright, the IRF Youth lead, won the CIPAM-IUCN youth
scholarship for protected areas, and will not only be learning from the experience
but will further the cause of the ranger in this and other forums. Part of the
award is a two-and-a-half week training session in protected area management
which will be held in the US Rocky Mountains NP. There is an urgent need for
the IRF to make good its commitment to the 2003 World Parks Congress on youth
by initiating an IRF-IUCN award for youth. Also, welcome to Marius Fuls of the
Game Rangers Association of Africa as the GRAA youth lead.
Hong Kong
The Fifth Conference on Protected Areas in East Asia took
place in Hong Kong in June. Attendees at the conference heard that all countries
have made significant progress in the last ten years in establishing new protected
areas, but that these areas face significant challenges. There were many inputs
from young people to the conference and special awards were presented to three
young scientist/managers for their outstanding presentations.
Canada
Parks Canada Agency has initiated an exchange program with
Parks Victoria, Australia, and the first Aussie rangers have arrived in their
Canadian parks. It is a two year pilot project and the host parks are spread
out from Gros Morne in Newfoundland (as featured in RANGER 70) to Jasper National
Park in Alberta.
Also, there will be a new warden uniform for field testing in Canada this year.
The historical flashes and other parts of the uniform that identify wardens
as law enforcement officers will be retained but this new uniform will go a
long way towards unifying the look of the warden service.
Uruguay
The Macá Agency, which operates a single motorboat
to transport visitors to Laguna de Castillos wetlands nature reserve, has donated
US $177 to the IRF Ranger Dependant´s Fund. This donation has been sent
to the help ranger Daniel Kurday of Araucarias Park, who was paralysed when
shot in the back by poachers some months ago whilst on patrol.
Future Ranger conferences
Interested rangers should try to raise funds to attend international
meetings to ensure that the voice of the ranger is heard at these important
forums. The first Iberoamerican Ranger Congress takes place in, Santiago, Chile,
in September and the World Wilderness Congress takes place in Anchorage, Alaska,
from September 30 to October 6. Most importantly, ensure that you are booked
for the very important IRF
2006 World Ranger Congress to be held in Stirling, Scotland, next June.
New IRF members
In addition to Poland (see above), Guatemala is the most
recent ranger association to join IRF and Croatia has submitted an application
to join the IRF. We welcome these new members to our ranger family.
Bill Halainen: Editor
of “The Thin Green Line”
David Zeller: President, International
Ranger Federation