Africa Nature Investors Foundation - Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2023
Africa Nature Investors Foundation is taking on the Wildlife Ranger Challenge to raise awareness of the vital role our 40 rangers play in protecting Nigeria's Okomu National Park, and supporting an estimated 160 livelihoods.
My story
Rangers are Africa’s unsung heroes. They hold diverse roles as conservationists, teachers, community support workers, leaders and much more.
The Wildlife Ranger Challenge, organised by Tusk, is a celebration of solidarity, connection and camaraderie for the ranger profession. Culminating on 16th September 2023, the campaign raises vital funds for Africa's biodiversity guardians.
Africa Nature Investors Foundation - Okomu National Park
The Okomu National Park (ONP) is a rich biodiverse 200 km2 of mature secondary forest. The Park represents one of the best examples of mature secondary forest left in southwest Nigeria and supporting significant populations of critically endangered fauna and flora.
Along with the rainforest ecosystem benefits, ONP is habitat to one of the last remaining breeding herds of ‘critically endangered’ West African forest elephant in Nigeria.
However, these forests are under increasing threat and pressure from logging activities and human encroachment. The opportunistic and illegal timber harvesting results in clashes with rangers and poses an imminent threat to the forest biodiversity. If nothing is done, these forests and their elephants could be lost forever.
Rangers are the backbone of wildlife conservation and our team at ONP have commenced the training and deployment of a new batch from the surrounding communities. The support we seek from this year's WRC fundraising is primarily to help better equip these rangers to effectively carry out their duties and increase the security for the communities surrounding the park.
Give today and the Scheinberg Relief Fund will match every dollar donated, amplifying your impact. Join us in speaking up #ForWildlifeRangers
Support a unique conservation initiative empowering and uniting wildlife rangers across Africa.
May 2, 2023, 3:10:18 PMWildlife rangers operate on the very frontline of conservation across Africa, routinely making personal sacrifices to put their lives on the line to protect the continent’s magnificent wildlife and habitats. Yet they are so much more than just law enforcement officers: rangers are teachers, community support workers, mediators, researchers and so much more. Unfortunately, resources are not keeping pace with the scale of the challenges they are trying to tackle. For the fourth year running, the Wildlife Ranger Challenge sets out to redress this, by raising critical funding to cover operating costs, including salaries and equipment, for over 10,000 rangers. This will help them protect threatened wildlife and some of the continent's most vulnerable areas, while also protecting communities and securing coexistence with wildlife, as well as providing for their own families.
