The Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2021
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is raising money for Tusk Trust
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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 Wild Chimpanzee Foundation’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 16 rangers and an estimated 76 livelihoods in and around the Taï National Park and Cavally Forest in Côte d'Ivoire. 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:
We have recruited two types of wildlife rangers: eco-guides and eco-survey assistants. 12 eco-guides work permanently on an ecotourism project and follow habituated monkeys. Their continuous presence has a deterrent effect in the area and reduces the risk of poaching. The eco-survey team works in the same area as the eco-guides and scours the entire forest for illegal activities and signs of wildlife. These observations allow us to verify if the management measures are being taken or if the presence of ecotourism is indeed contributing to a decrease in poaching and an increase in animal populations.
Impact that 2020 WRC had on Organisation & Rangers:
Thanks to the WRC2020 project, the WCF has been able to maintain a permanent ranger presence in the ecotourism zone of the Taï National Park and in the Cavally classified forest.
This prevented the spread of illegal activities despite the difficult context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the elections in Côte d'Ivoire. Work slowed down at the beginning of the pandemic due to restrictions, but the number of cases quickly stabilized in the country and work returned to normal.
As a result, poaching activities stabilized and with the continued presence of eco-guards in the forest, it was possible to deter illegal activities.
Ongoing effects of the pandemic:
Côte d'Ivoire has gone through two waves of epidemics according to official figures, one between March 2020 and July 2020 and the second between January 2021 and April 2021. The number of official cases between these two periods was very low. The ecotourism project was closed to tourists from March 2020 to May 1, 2021. A health protocol was put in place to ensure that tourists entering the forest did not carry COVID-19. Vaccination has been launched in 2021 in Côte d'Ivoire and vaccination centers have been opened throughout the country. In Taï, all eco-guides and eco-survey assistants were vaccinated in May 2021. COVID-19 has mainly affected the income of the ecotourism project, thus threatening the project to close and poaching to increase. This situation is not resolved because in the international context of the pandemic, achieving self-sustainability of ecotourism projects will remain difficult for the next year or two.
How support in 2021 could help:
In the context of the pandemic, the funds available for conservation are very limited in Côte d'Ivoire and international travel restrictions will not allow the ecotourism project to resume quickly and tourists are rare, despite the reopening. In addition, the technical and camping equipment could not be renewed for the eco-guides due to this financial situation. Thus, with these funds, we would like to continue to cover part of the guides' salaries, their equipment and their camping material in the forest in order to facilitate their work.
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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.
Main photo courtesy of Wild Chimpanzee Foundation