This year’s World Ranger Day was celebrated across the globe last month with the wildlife conservation fraternity showering praises on gallant rangers who go to great lengths to protect and conserve the precious gem – wildlife.
World Ranger Day was designated with a mission to afford the world the opportunity to show its solidarity with rangers and at the same time, empathize with them. It is also aimed at rewriting the public misconstrued perception about the ranger career by awakening in everyone the spirit of conservation.
The adverse effects of COVID-19, however, spoilt the party for this year’s celebrations marked on Saturday, July 31 with many countries, including Kenya, scaling down the festivity to avoid physical human contact, which is known to aid the spread of the dangerous virus. This did not, however, stop leaders from sending their goodwill messages of praise to encourage rangers to keep up with their noble duty.
In his message, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Najib Balala urged governments and organisations to continue supporting resilient and incredibly courageous rangers. “If our wildlife could speak, they would thank God first, and thank our rangers second, for being such a strong shield against poachers,” Hon. Balala said.
The Cabinet Secretary regretted that the coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc worldwide, and bringing the largest economies to their knees. He, however, noted that there is a silver lining to COVID-19, that is, the inevitability of adjusting to a new normal, which is a stark global reminder that frontline workers are invaluable; deserving of so much more recognition than the world grants them.
Hon. Balala termed rangers as the “cement that seals the continued survival of biodiversity”, noting that, “Often, they live away from their families, working well into the night and even risking their lives so that our wildlife can thrive.” He immortalized rangers for going head-to-head with poachers, adding that more recently, they have had to deal with the surge in the illegal bushmeat trade as communities engage in it to mitigate the detrimental effects of Covid-19 on their livelihoods.
The duties of a ranger go far beyond patrolling their areas of work. For instance, they carry out ecological monitoring of key endangered species; perform investigative and intelligence duties; ensure visitor security; conduct search and rescue operations for visitors lost in protected areas; respond to emergencies such as bush firefighting; attend to human-wildlife conflict cases, as well as a host of other important duties for the benefit of communities.
The Cabinet Secretary concluded his message to rangers by stating: “History is more than the path left by the past as it can shape the future. May the World Ranger Day commemorations be on such a scale as to leave them with no doubt of how much we value their dedication and celebrate their self-sacrifice. On behalf of KWS, conservancies, the Kenya government and indeed the entire world, I salute all rangers”.