About the Wildlife Ranger Challenge: 

COVID-19 has brought tourism revenue to a halt across Africa, threatening the important work and livelihoods of the rangers who protect iconic African wildlife such as elephants, pangolins, rhinos, lions, and more. Ranger teams are now uniting around the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, a running race with one goal: to raise money to support thousands of their fellow rangers. Now is the time to go the extra mile—it’s time to race to support our rangers. Every dollar donated will be matched by the Scheinberg Relief Fund, doubling your generous contribution.

Your contribution will help support 92 rangers and an estimated 500 livelihoods in and around the Kunene Region of in Namibia.

The role of rangers:

Trackers and conservancy rangers are responsible for leading rhino monitoring activities to help protect the black rhino population in northwest Namibia. Their skills are tested during long patrols on foot, over rough terrain, in an area with no national park status, no fences, and no controls over who enters and exits. 

They compile all data forms, photos, and other information related to wildlife sightings from field operations and input this into a SMART database. The data is forwarded to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and is incorporated into the national rhino database. Rangers report all suspicious activity detected in areas zoned specifically and solely for wildlife. Poaching syndicates remain active in the region and it is essential that rangers maintain their intensive patrolling, which acts as a deterrent to would-be poachers.

How your donation will help:

Additional funding will be used to pay rhino sighting and field day incentives for rangers. This money makes up a significant percentage of their income — without these incentives, some take home pay is reduced by up to 50%. Not only is the effect on household income significant, but the effect on the motivation of rangers to spend time in the field monitoring rhino, capturing verifiable data on rhino movements, and acting as a deterrent to poaching will likewise have an extremely negative effect on conservation efforts in the landscape.

Additional funding would also go toward preventing a potential salary reduction of one of our senior rangers. This ranger is responsible for wildlife crime investigations and we believe that the reduction in his field time will also have a detrimental effect on the on-going rhino poaching investigations and preemptive operations in the region. The investigation work combined with the massive on-going monitoring effort is integral to the success of a massive reduction in poaching, from more than 15 animals from 2015 to 2016 to zero between August 2017 and April 2020.

Effects of the pandemic:

Our current support for rangers is almost entirely dependent on donor funding, meaning we are particularly vulnerable to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as regular donors are not expected to be able to donate at the usual levels during the coming year. Furthermore, with the loss of tourism revenues and widespread job losses, it is feared that some community members will turn to poaching. Our on-the ground resources are stretched to the limit in order to cover gaps left by tourism operations.

We are aware that poaching syndicates remain active in the region and it is essential that rangers maintain intensive patrolling, covering open areas regularly used by rhino-based tourism operators in order to act as a deterrent to would-be poachers. Opportunistic poachers could otherwise the downturn in tourism and fewer visitors in the area to plan and operate without being noticed.

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Tusk is registered with JustGiving in the UK (or GoFundMe.com in the USA). Our online fundraising sites allow you to create a sponsorship form with easy access for your supporters, knowing their money is going directly to Tusk. UK tax-paying donors can enhance their contribution by agreeing to Gift Aid their sponsorship (for every £10 you raise, Tusk will receive another £2.50 from the Government provided you are a UK taxpayer). US supporters wishing to make a tax deductible donation can do so via GoFundMe.com.