Rangers and Conservation

URSA, an alliance of ten conservation organizations, including WWF, is the first of its kind in support of rangers. The alliance works to provide a unified voice for rangers everywhere and create global standards for capacity, employment, equality, and conduct. The coalition was established to support the International Ranger Federation (IRF) in the implementation of the Chitwan Declaration, which called on non-governmental organizations and other conservation groups to act on a detailed list of needs and priorities for rangers. The Chitwan Declaration was agreed at the World Ranger Congress in November 2019 and signed by 550 Rangers from 70 countries representing members of more than 100 member associations.

WWF works with governments and communities who employ rangers to find opportunities to influence policy changes at the global, regional level and national to implement standards and policies developed by URSA to protect rangers and ultimately enable rangers to do their job effectively and responsibly.

URSA developed a five year action plan to implement the recommendations from the Chitwan Declaration. The URSA works on a wholistic approach developed around four elements; Capacity, Conditions, Conduct and Inclusivity. The URSA has developed global standards for these four elements.  

The first-ever Code of Conduct for rangers was developed in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Code provides a set of principles for behavior and proper practices for the ranger workforce, as well as steps to help build a professional, accountable and responsible workforce.

A large proportion of rangers around the world endure dangerous working conditions that threaten their health and safety and limit their ability and motivation to do what is asked of them. These limitations were further exacerbated by budget cuts due to COVID-19, with nearly a third of rangers reporting negative impacts to their daily work as a result. Threats, violence, injury, disease, and death are not uncommon, and no fewer than 1,535 rangers lost their lives in the line of duty between 2006 and 2021, according to IRF’s Roll of Honour. In 2024 alone, 140 rangers were lost over 37 countries.

URSA members have developed a global Standards for Ranger Employment and Working Conditions, with the next step being the adoption of those standards at the national level. Many rangers do their jobs without proper pay, contracts, equipment, or insurance. Requiring minimum standards for working and employment conditions will enhance ranger working conditions and well-being.

The majority of the ranger workforce does not have equity and equality in terms of gender balance and representation of Indigenous and local communities. According to the 2019 Life on the Frontline survey conducted in 28 countries, only 3% to 11% of the ranger workforce is female. The extent of Indigenous rangers and rangers from local communities and their working conditions is still unknown.

URSA aims to establish systems and structures that enable equal opportunities, fair treatment, and an equitable working environment for rangers. WWF worked with URSA members on creating the first comprehensive and global analysis of the challenges and opportunities for bringing gender equality into the ranger workforce.

One third of rangers reported receiving inadequate training for their job, according to the 2019 Life on the Frontline survey. In fact, 34.4% of rangers surveyed either disagreed or strongly disagreed that their initial training sufficiently prepared them for their responsibilities. 34.5% either disagreed or strongly disagreed that their organization provides them with adequate refresher training throughout their career.

URSA has begun addressing the problem of ranger undertraining by developing the Global Ranger Competences, a summary of absolute minimum skills and knowledge needed for rangers to deliver their work effectively. The competences aims to guide ranger employers, ranger associations, conservation organizations and donor communities from around the world to develop and implement a wholistic and sustainable training program for rangers.

Rangers often lack training, support, and effective management, and a more professional ranger sector will improve the standing of rangers among decision-makers, communities, and the public. This will ultimately lead to improved resourcing, policies, support, and more effective management of protected and conserved areas. Some of the ways WWF is helping to professionalize the ranger workforce is through:

• Working with partners including ranger colleges, governments, and other non-governmental organizations to support the strengthening of ranger colleges to ensure the sustainable and long-term capacity building of rangers.
• In Namibia, WWF and partners have developed a game guard recognition system that provides a standardized assessment process for its more than 600 community game guards—acknowledging and rewarding their work and skills. Community-based conservation, where communities are empowered to manage and benefit from their wildlife and other natural resources, is the cornerstone of WWF's work in Namibia.
• Helping fund ranger training through WWF's Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program. For over two decades, more than 3,000 park rangers from more than 20 countries have received training support from this program.
• Supporting Indigenous rangers, women and government rangers to bring their issues to regional and global conservation forums.

SMART, which stands for Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, is a software platform used to improve the monitoring and management of protected areas and wildlife. Developed and supported by a coalition of eight of the world's leading conservation non-governmental organizations, including WWF, SMART has become the world's most widely adopted conservation area adaptive management tool since its launch in 2011. It's currently used by tens of thousands of conservationists across the globe—from local governments to academic institutes to Indigenous peoples and others—in more than 1,500 terrestrial, freshwater, and ocean environments in over 95 countries.

Conservationists, from local communities to governments and nongovernmental organizations, use SMART for a wide range of activities to protect and monitor wildlife and wild places, including monitoring antipoaching patrols in tiger and gorilla habitats, assessing polar bear conflict in the Arctic, and documenting natural resource management.

WWF currently supports the use of SMART in over 284 sites in Africa, Eurasia, and Latin America. The tool has been a game changer for rangers protecting our world's biodiversity, supporting a broad range of conservation management activities including monitoring biodiversity, protecting habitat and wildlife, managing tourism, tracking natural resource use, and reducing human-wildlife conflict. SMART is helping countries achieve what's known as 30 x 30—the goal to conserve at least 30% of land, freshwater, and oceans globally by 2030.

The global initiative 30×30 aims to conserve 30% of Earth's habitats by 2030, a key goal of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This initiative addresses critical threats like climate change, habitat destruction, and illegal exploitation, emphasizing the importance of protecting diverse ecosystems and the wildlife they support. Achieving 30x30 isn’t possible without an adequate area-based workforce, and at the forefront of this workforce are rangers.

WWF participates in raising awareness for investment in adequate numbers of competent, well-resourced, and well-led rangers are the foundation for effective management of protected and conserved areas. Significant investment into the workforce and commitment by countries, agencies, managers, NGOs and donors is needed to ensure that a diverse ranger workforce can deliver what has been agreed professionally, responsibly and accountably.

In 2023, the International Ranger Federation (IRF), the Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) and other partners issued a policy note calling for the Global Biodiversity Framework to recognize rangers as essential planetary health workers. It was determined that the ranger workforce needs to expand by 1.2 million rangers to achieve the 30x30 goal, a whopping 400% increase in personnel.