From the 23rd to the 30th June we are coming together to celebrate World Female Ranger Week. Established by leading adventurer and wildlife protection activist Holly Budge, this week is a time of celebration and recognition for women protecting wildlife across the world. Holly’s charity, How Many Elephants, believes that female rangers are best placed to help “ease local tensions and strengthen connections between conservation and community.”
However, despite these efforts, less than 11 per cent of the global wildlife ranger workforce is female. Female Ranger Week seeks to highlight the work of the 4,500 female rangers already operating across 18 African nations, as well as the more than 5,500 female rangers spanning the rest of the world, from Sri Lanka to Scotland, women’s role in wildlife conservation knows no bounds.
It is important to note that World Female Ranger Week is more than just about the data; becoming a ranger has had unquantifiable benefits for women’s place in many societies across the globe.
By taking on a role deemed traditionally masculine, thousands of women have been empowered, turning them into breadwinners and property owners, and allowing them access to higher education and much-needed healthcare.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled tourism, one of conservation’s main forms of funding for global projects, as a means of raising awareness, this week is more important than ever before.
Furthermore, by putting the spotlight on female rangers, more much-needed funding can potentially be brought in. That’s why ‘The World Female Ranger Award’ has been set up to give international recognition to a female ranger who has shown dedication and commitment to protecting wildlife species.
When focusing on human stories, we can really begin to understand the impact felt both in conservation and in the societal role of women across the world. In 2022, the winner of the World Female Ranger’s Award was Purnima. She is an Indian conservationist and founder of the Hargila Army. Her success was measured by changing people’s perceptions of the Adjutant Stork, a bird seen often as a disease-carrying pest, ugly, and even a bad omen.
Purnima’s team, the ‘Hargila Army’, has come from small beginnings and has now expanded to a team of over 10,000. By helping to turn this bird into a cultural icon in India, they have helped to reduce habitat loss, poaching, and poisoning of the stork. But Purnima and her female ranger team keeping watch believe they have fostered pride in the rare stork by associating positive festivities with the bird. She has stated that “today many women join because it is a matter of prestige to be a part of the Hargila Army.”
Another personal story from the ground comes from Kenya. Caren, a Maasai woman and a female wildlife ranger, was noted as a ‘top 1%’ recruit and is now leading a de-snaring unit in the Mau Forest in Kenya to combat illegal logging and bushmeat poaching. Since 2020, Caren’s team has arrested 90 suspects for unlawful habitat destruction, destroyed 17 kilns, confiscated 56 bags of charcoal, and removed 4,311 illegal posts, trees, or timbers.
They’ve also arrested eight suspects for bushmeat poaching, removed 182 snares, and seized 39 kg of bushmeat. Her charity was extremely honoured when she won the inaugural World Female Ranger Award. Through acknowledgement of their committed and dedicated work as female rangers, How Many Elephants and World Female Ranger Week have provided these women with support in their vital work and inspired others to take up the cause.
These are but a few examples of the work done by women in the wildlife protection community. Without them, none of the exemplary work they do day-in-day-out could be possible. Throughout this week, we implore the wildlife protection community to come together and support all female rangers, no matter how big or small a role they play. We need to support them in any way we can!
