The Western Cape is celebrating World Ranger Day today by acknowledging the vital role that our field rangers play in protecting our natural heritage.
Anton Bredell, the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape, says field rangers are the backbone of all the on-the-ground work that is done in nature reserves around the world.
“Currently CapeNature has 98 field rangers across the 27 reserves it manages in the Western Cape. I want to add my voice to those thanking and acknowledging our field rangers for their ongoing service and reflect on the sacrifices they make.”
Rangers in the Western Cape fulfil a number of critical roles including ecological monitoring, firefighting, tour guiding, environmental education and awareness, project implementation and monitoring, invasive species control and law enforcement.
“Rangers are the guardians of our precious natural heritage, a heritage that is under increased pressure globally as pressure for resources increases. We value their efforts and will continue to support our rangers as best we can.”
In a build up to World Ranger Day, our CapeNature’s rangers brought the public critical conservation messages through a series of radio interviews that include interesting topics such as invasive species control and illegal harvesting. A free webinar was also hosted to bring the work done by rangers to the forefront of conversation. The radio interviews can be downloaded as podcasts on our website and if you have missed the webinar you can watch it on CapeNature’s YouTube channel.
ENDS.