Continent’s rangers come together at SANParks

KNYSNA NEWS - SANParks hosted the Game Rangers Association of Africa on Thursday, July 27 ahead of International Rangers Day on July 31.

Discussions kicked off with the relevance of the socioeconomic impact of the Garden Route National Park (GRNP in the region. Park manager Paddy Gordon illustrated the multiple roles played by rangers to ensure national parks remain havens for the conservation of biodiversity and allow visitors to experience this through various tourism offerings.

“Some 34 events go through the Garden Route National Park every year, with more than 200 000 visitors a year, but our role remains that of conserving nature for current and future generations and creating experiences for visitors in nature. These include multiple hiking trails, cycling, forest excursions (ziplining, Segways, Scootours) and others,” he said.

Trail running has become a drawcard for the parks. This year, more than 10 000 people have already run through the forests from Wilderness to Tsitsikamma, which includes events such as the Knysna Forest Marathon during the Oyster Festival and others. All sporting activities happen on zoned-off land where activities are compatible with the broader conservation objective.

Andrew Campbell, CEO of the Game Ranger Association (left) and Paddy Gordon (right), Garden Route National Park.

A presentation by marine ecologist Kyle Smith focused on trail runners as vectors of seed dispersal in national parks. Through an experiment conducted during the Otter Trail Run, Smith and his team were able to raise awareness about seeds of invasive alien species carried into a national park.

“The message is, clean the soles of your running shoes before and after every race. That way we minimise the risk of seeds dispersing.”

This also goes for game ranger vehicles and every mechanism of transport in and out of the parks.

Other discussions on the day were about fynbos, forest and fire management, led by the Southern Cape Fire Protection Association.

The CEO of the Game Rangers Association of Africa, Andrew Campbell, said, “Mentorship and leadership training is important for rangers, hence a dedicated ranger programme was lined up for rangers in today’s programme.”

Campbell also said that the increased number of rangers who died in the line of duty this year – some 55 rangers as opposed to last year’s 35 reported cases – is a concern.

Association members came from across the African continent for an AGM held in Wilderness (Ebb & Flow rest camp) and spent two of their days to meet with SANParks. The organisation’s focus is on providing the necessary skills for rangers across Africa.