Executive Summary Given their indispensable role in preserving the global biodiversity upon which human well-being and sustainable development gains will depend, one might rightly wonder at the near total absence of information pertaining to ranger work prior to the undertaking of this study. The limited materials that did exist rarely included any feedback from rangers themselves. Things are different in this report, where we hear directly from 7,110 public-sector patrol rangers, surveyed at hundreds of sites across 28 countries. Although a wide diversity of topics were addressed across the 197 questions contained in each survey, an analysis of results point towards certain themes that require urgent action from the governments that employ these rangers. For many rangers the problems start early, with approximately one-third indicating that the training they received was inadequate to prepare them for the realities of their job. These findings clearly call for a thorough review and possible modification of training curricula, many of which are likely outdated or otherwise inadequate for the challenges faced by today’s rangers. Concerningly, a slight majority of rangers believe that existing medical treatment was not adequate. This shows that more must be done to hasten the delivery of rangers to qualified medical professionals when the need arises – something that is worth further exploration by responsible government authorities. Infectious diseases were also revealed to be a serious threat to ranger well-being, with a surprising 31 per cent contracting malaria within the prior 12 months, and 22 per cent contracting another disease or infection that required treatment. The fact that
3 | Life on the Frontline 2019
THE SINGLE MOST OBVIOUS THREAD THAT RUNS THROUGH THE SURVEY COMPLETED BY PATROL RANGERS AT NEARLY 500 SITES IN 28 COUNTRIES IS THAT RANGERS ARE FACING EXCESSIVE SAFETY AND HEALTH RISKS THAT COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED WITH THE APPROPRIATE INTERVENTIONS. a majority of rangers indicated that their shelter is inadequate may partially explain this. Relatively lowcost improvements such as ensuring the availability of mosquito nets and clean drinking water at outposts would almost certainly lower infection rates. Currently only 32 per of those surveyed ‘often’ or ‘always’ had access to mosquito nets at outposts. Clean drinking water access at these locations scored a dismal 51 per cent, and this number sinks even further during active patrolling (43 per cent). Inadequacy or non-availability of key equipment is another issue that puts rangers at risk. About half of respondents believed that even their most basic equipment (uniform and boots) is insufficient for the job they do – shortcomings that would be magnified given the substantial patrolling distances usually required for the profession.
