WILDLIFE
RANGERS.
Wildlife rangers are some of the most undervalued frontline workers in the world. They lack funding, proper training, and equipment to do their jobs effectively. We aim to bridge these gaps by providing critical skills training, life-saving medical training, education, and equipment donations.
We stand with our world's rangers.
Local Rangers
These brave men and women risk their lives every day to be on the front lines of our natural areas and wildlife reserves.
CURRENT CHALLENGES.
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Globally, wildlife rangers are an underrepresented, undervalued profession that desperately needs help. Rangers are not recognized by any international labor organization and they are often not paid well, with few benefits, and are expected to spend weeks or months at a time away from their families in very remote, rugged, dangerous conditions.
Depending on the region, many ranger units don't have access to appropriate or updated training and are poorly equipped to do their jobs. Basic items such as work boots, uniforms, or ruck sacks are commonly worn until they are completely unusable because units can't afford to replace them.
Generally, in government-ran parks or protected areas, ranger units struggle to obtain funding. Worldwide, there is a lack of funding emphasis on environmental issues, and consequently ranger welfare is not typically a priority.
We see it as our duty to contribute in this space with our time, efforts, knowledge and funding. Our world's rangers are protecting our most precious resources and they should be afforded the respect, professional training, and proper equipment to fulfill their duties safely and effectively.
OUR
EFFORTS.
SFW has worked with rangers in multiple countries in Southern Africa and aims to bring specialized training to rangers.
Our current focus has been providing medical training on stopping life-threatening bleeding, which is the number one cause of ranger deaths. With only minutes to react in a critical situation, it's crucial that rangers know how to respond. Using concepts from Stop the Bleed ® and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), we assisted with the initial implementation of the Ranger Advanced Medical Program (R.A.M.P.). Our goal is to provide this wildlife ranger-specific medical training, free of charge, to as many ranger units as possible.
Additionally, we are diligently working to develop a portfolio of skills addressing critical knowledge gaps in the ranger space. Besides medical training, we are working on accumulating professional certifications in tracking (human and wildlife), dangerous game encounters, and working dog handling.
We partner with organizations like the International Ranger Federation (IRF) to stay informed about current issues and how we can help. Click below to visit the Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) and the IRF websites to learn more about the challenges our world's rangers face.
Kids to Kruger
Our current community-related fundraising objective is to bring local children on educational field trips into Kruger National Park. The more we educate our youth, the more we can inspire the next generations of wildlife rangers!