You can follow campaign updates on social media with #ForWildlifeRangers or find out more at WildlifeRangerChallenge.org.

About the Wildlife Ranger Challenge:

Covid-19 has created a temporary safer world for Africa’s wildlife. But the floodgates are opening as the economic impacts of Covid drive more poaching. With tourism gone, the rangers who care for wildlife lack the resources to do their jobs. The Sioma Ngwezi National Park’s ranger teams are joining thousands of others across the continent taking part in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, a series of physical and mental challenges, culminating in a 21km virtual race on Saturday 18th September.

You can join them! Show your support and sign up to run or walk with the community game scout team from wherever you are in the world:  WildlifeRangerChallenge.org/registration. Now is the time to go the extra mile to support our rangers!

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Your contribution will help support 105 rangers and an estimated 525 livelihoods in and around the Sioma Ngwezi National Park in Zambia. Every dollar we raise via JustGiving will earn an additional 25% match!

Your donation also helps to unlock vital funds for other ranger teams across Africa; the Scheinberg Relief Fund will donate the equivalent of 75% of the amount raised to the Ranger Fund!

The role of rangers:

Since 2007, Peace Parks and WWF-Zambia have worked in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Zambia to support the implementation of various projects in and around Sioma Ngwezi National Park. Projects include protected area management, infrastructure development and community livelihood development programmes.

On a daily basis, the rangers in Sioma Ngwezi deal with extensive bushmeat poaching, as well as work to counter the over exploitation of natural resources such as Devils Claw, which is harvested illegally for its medicinal value.

A new strategy for effective patrolling has been rolled out to ensure that more sections of the park are patrolled more regularly, thus ensuring an increase in arrests to address a wide variety of incursions. Rangers use a boat, aircraft, vehicles, and patrol on foot in order to ensure anti-poaching initiatives are implemented effectively.

Impact that 2020 WRC had on Organisation & Rangers:

With the support received through the Wildlife Ranger Challenge last year (as well as co-funding leveraged as a result of this), Sioma Ngwezi National Park purchased 100 Tentco Junior Wanderer tents. These were delivered to the park in late March and were issued to the various ranger teams. These tents will be hugely appreciated by the rangers who are currently ill equipped for long patrols which require such equipment. The tents are needed by patrol teams who are dropped off in areas of the park with their rations and water where they patrol for five days.

Ongoing effects of the pandemic:

There has been no impact on poaching as a result of Covid-19, although the park has seen, over the past three years, an increase in illegal harvesting of Devils Claw. Devils Claw harvesting is illegal in a national park in Zambia. In Namibia, however, sustainable harvesting of Devils Claw is allowed.  Sioma Ngwezi National Park borders Namibia and as a result there is smuggling of Devils Claw from Zambia into Namibia.

Further to the above, tourism in Sioma Ngwezi National Park has decreased. In 2019, 277 people visited the park. This number dropped to 137 in 2020.  As at May 2021, only 4 people had visited the park. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and various travel restrictions have obviously impacted tourism numbers in Zambia and southern Africa.

How support in 2021 could help:

Sioma Ngwezi National Park is 527,600 ha and access is at present limited to a few roads in the park. As such, funding is required to employ labour from the local communities to assist with cutting new roads. Additionally, once the roads have been cut, the park would require a new tractor and trailer to assist with patrol deployment from the patrol camps that will be built at the locations of the new radio repeater masts. (Within the next two months Sioma will have a fully functioning digital VHF radio system which will greatly improve communication and coordination.) Support will also be used towards incentives for field rangers to boost morale and to encourage performance.

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Tusk Trust Limited is a charity registered in England and Wales, No: 1186533, and a company registered in England and Wales, No: 11948023. 

In the US, “The Friends of Tusk Fund” donor advised fund is administered by CAF America (Tax ID 68-0480736)

Donors who pay tax in the UK can enhance their donation through Gift Aid, meaning that for every £10 raised, Tusk can recover an additional £2.50 for the cause from the UK Government.

US supporters wishing to make a tax deductible donation please click here.