Africa’s biggest campaign dedicated to wildlife rangers has collected more than Sh3.2 billion to improve the lives of the men and women protecting the continent’s wildlife, as conservation groups warn that frontline officers remain too few to meet growing security and environmental challenges.
The fundraising campaign comes at a time when wildlife rangers are facing tougher working conditions. Besides protecting natural resources, they are increasingly dealing with organised wildlife crime, armed conflict, growing human activities around protected areas and the effects of climate change.
Many also continue to work without enough equipment, proper training or insurance.
Since its launch in 2020, the Wildlife Ranger Challenge has raised more than US$25 million, equal to over Sh3.2 billion, to support ranger welfare across Africa. Organisers say the continent currently has only one-fifth of the number of frontline rangers required to effectively manage and protect its conserved and protected areas.
The seventh edition of the challenge is now underway, with ranger teams taking part in two months of physical and mental activities before the annual 21-kilometre race in September. More than 2,000 rangers from over 150 teams representing 20 African countries are expected to participate.
The Wildlife Ranger Challenge is organised by Tusk together with the Game Rangers Association of Africa (GRAA). It was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to help ranger teams remain active when conservation programmes faced funding difficulties.
Over the years, the initiative has grown into Africa’s largest annual campaign honouring wildlife rangers while raising money for their equipment, training and welfare. The support also helps strengthen efforts to protect some of the continent’s most valuable wildlife landscapes.
Tusk estimates that Africa has about 65,000 terrestrial and marine wildlife rangers, far below the estimated 345,000 needed to effectively manage protected and conserved areas across the continent.