"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is based in Kenya and it takes in orphaned and abandoned elephant calves. The aim is to release them back into the wild herts adjoining Retiti.
The keepers caring for the elephants have all been trained in the care, rehabilitation and release of elephant calves. They are recruited from the Namunyak Conservancy and they all have a deep respect for elephants. You can meet some of the keepers here.
You can meet some of the elephants here – they are orphaned or abandoned because of drought, man-made wells, human-wildlife conflict and natural mortality. It was the local community who wanted the Sanctuary.
The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary has an appeal to raise $250,000 to buy a mobile veterinary clinic! The clinic will reach the most remote, rugged parts of Northern Kenya and this should allow the Reteti tea to delivery essential care to injured and traumatised animals. It could even prevent calves being made orphans!
Not only that, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has pledged to match every donation up to US$ 125,000 - and that means that donations will go twice as far! A great way to make your donation go twice the distance!
There are a lot of challenges in the wild areas of Northern Kenya - climate change, droughts, the conflict with people. Many animals are badly injured and orphaned every year as a result of these challenges. And because of the terrain, help could be hours and even days away - there are very difficult conditions to cross and it can be impossible for the team to get to animals in time to save them.
Reteti has launched a dedicateed Rapid-Response Mobile Veterinarian Unit - and the aim is to deliver lifesaving care in the huge landscape around the clock!
Gifting them a bottle of milk - the video shows how much they adore it! Each elephant drinks about 8 bottles of milk a day, generally goats milk. The elephants have a feed about every 3 hours and between feeds, the keepers take them on bush walks so that they can learn to browse, navigate and get used to the landscape.
Around the world there are many people who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect endangered animals and habitats.
The International Ranger Foundation (IRF) is the official body representing rangers around the world. It was established on 31st July 1992, after a year spent setting up and planning for the establishment and development of the organisation. The aim now is to drive through this development so that there is a professional body of rangers around the world. It's based in Australia. International Ranger Foundation UK is here.
Mokala National Park observing World Ranger Day, South Africa This shows how dangerous the job of being a ranger can be and gives you an insight into the life of a ranger. THANK YOU to rangers, everywhere.
2023 was the first year of the newly set biodiversity framework, with lots of targets to hit. One target was particularly important, that of 30% of the world having effectively managed areas by 2030.
To achieve this, it will be vital to have a professional body of rangers around the world and their numbers will need to increase from 286,000 today to 1.5 million. Wildlife and biodiversity will benefit - as will people, with the economic and social services outcomes that result from such a development.
So the theme for World Ranger Day 2025 is 30 x 30, reflecting target three and the 30 x 30 goal.
The International Ranger Federation has a toolkit on online that we can use, sharing with the hashtags above. There is a lot of information about rangers on their website, so please explore their website. It works with The Thin Green Lineto promote the initiative of World Ranger Day.
World Ranger Day is a chance for all of us to show our appreciation for the work that wildlife rangers and guardians do and offer our support in whatever way we can and to remember those who have died or been injured doing this vital work and to think of the families they leave behind.
The Thin Green Line Foundation says that often rangers' families are left behind without any support. Donations and support give a gift of hope and an urgent lifeline to families left behind.
And it’s good to know that there is something you can do to help wildlife and locals in their communities at the same time, and we thought we’d do a roundup of charities and organisations working to help in this way. Sometimes wildlife rangers are called wildlife guardians.
The Wildlife Ranger Challenge on 20th September 2025
This is a chance to show just how diverse the work rangers do really is! This 21km half marathon is on 20th September 2025 and it's in its sixth year. Over 100 ranger teams who span the varied, diverse terrains of the protected areas in Africa, will take part and compete in a 21km race across their respective landscapes. They will carry kit (22kg of kit (men) and 10kg (women). The event will really raise awreness of why rangers matter, the challenges they face, and to raise funds for frontline conservation efforts. It also helps unite those taking part across Africa. #ForWildlifeRangers
The World Land Trustare releasing a short film, Voices from the Wild, on 31st July 2025 for World Rangers Day. Please find out about their Keepers of the Wild Appeal here. It supports many of the Trust's partner organisations to employ local people as rangers, right into the frontline of conservation.
Fauna and Flora International FFI have an urgent appeal to save the Eastern Lowland Gorilla in the Maiko National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Donations could help provide the equipment park rangers need and also build a vital new network of ranger stations. Find out more and donate here.
The Foundation works with ranger groups, ranger associations and conservation partners in over 60 countries. They say it’s estimated that over 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years. They are dedicated to providing Rangers worldwide with the assistance they deserve and need.
Ol Pejeta Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Kenya. They have 150 rangers who are dedicated to protecting the wildlife there and neighbouring communities. They also have a K9 unit, whose dogs work hard also to protect wildlife.
Project Ranger supports a range of patrols such as horse patrols, foot patrols, motorbike, aerial, truck and K9 patrols. In doing so it protects a number of species in national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, conserved land and wildnerness areas. There are plenty of ways to support their work so visit their website to find out more!
The World Land Trust has a Keepers of the Wild initiative. The rangers are working on the front line of conservation, safeguarding some of the world’s most threatened animals and the crucial habitats in which they live. They protect reserves from poaching and logging, and importantly, link to local communities, building trust, helping to change attitudes and find practical solutions to problems. You can support Keepers of the Wild by making a donation.
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation works to support rangers in both Asia and Africa. You can support wildlife rangers here and help them conserve nature. Their work includes carrying out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols across national parks, finding and removing wildlife snares and collecting essential data on endangered speices and their habitats. They also work with communities to raise awareness and mitigate wildlife conflict.
This organisation works to save wildlife from extinction through education, anti-poaching and conservation efforts. It does this by using anti-poaching units, awareness and education and on the ground action, working on wildlife’s problems. You can adopt a ranger (also there’s a K9 poacher tracking unit) – find out what the options are to adopt a ranger here.
Virunga National Park is located on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin in Africa, and it's home to over 1,000 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian and a third of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. It has 750 male and female rangers, all working hard and putting their lives on the line to protect the park and local communities. There's a canine unit as well. Find out more
The Gorilla Organisation has a supporting rangers scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they act as the eyes, ears and voice of the forest. They cut snaes, save injured gorillas, combat the militias running the blood minerals trade, monitor the gorillas’ health and collect vital conservation data every day. Find out more here.
Tigers4ever have anti-poaching patrols in Bandharvagh, India, to protect tigers. They equip forest patrols, provide anti-poaching patrols and provide permanent solutions to water scarcity for wildlife
Become an Orangutan Guardian and help the Orangutan Foundation’s 60 Indonesian staff work on the frontline of conservation in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Their role is to guard and patrol the forests and rivers, to rescue and monitor the orangutans and to replant and nurture tree saplings. And crucially, they need to gain the trust and support of local communities. Become an Orangutan Guardian!
The Lewa Security Team consists of field rangers, radio operators, gatekeepers, baby rhino keepers, anti-poaching rangers and the tracker dog unit. The Anti-Poaching Rangers and Tracker Dog Unit work day and night to protect wildlife and keep them safe, especially rhinos and elephants. The tracker dog unit has four dogs and their handlers, the dogs act as efficient trackers, as they can pursue suspects for lengthy distances.
Save the Rhino makes sure that ranger teams have the the equipment they need to do their job as safely as possible. It has expanded canine units across the projects it funds, which in turn helps apprehend criminals. Find out more from Save the Rhino
Tusk
The charity Tusk give a Wildlife Ranger Award every year to give international recognition to the men and women who face danger every day to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems in Africa.
There are also rangers in other countries such as Australia and America and the UK, working for organisations such as national parks and they are also essential to protecting the environment and keeping wildlife safe.
And a very big thank you to each and every wildlife ranger working to care for and protect our wildlife and their habitats. And thank you to their families too.
The WWF Malaysia report that sadly there are only about 150 Malayan tigers left in Malaysia - there used to be 3,000 in the forests there in the 1950s.
#KeepRoaring for the Malayan tiger.
As WWF Malaysia point, out, we all need healthy forests - and forests need tigers. The problem is that tigers are threatened by poaching, the illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss (this is because of deforestation and fragmentation) and a lack of food for the tigers as their prey has been over-hunted.
To tackle these challenges, WWF Malaysia has been conducting patrolling in Belum-Temengor. It monitors poaching hotspots and then sends vital information to enforcement agencies, who can then patrol more ground. By patrolling more ground, they can discover more threats, remove snares and arrest poachers - these not only helps the tigers, but other animals too.
#KeepRoaring to save Malayan tigers, save our forests, and save ourselves by taking action and donating if you can.
Donations will help WWF-Malaysia to support wages for field assisstants to patrol and do camera-trapping so that they can see how many tigers are in an area. It will also give daily rations to those doing the patrolling work, and buy the necessary camping equipment they need to carry out field surveys. Of course, there are logistics and transport costs. And successful conservation efforts need the community on board, so donations help support awareness and communication drives.
Crucially, WWF-Malaysia is working with the Malaysian Government. To secure a future for all the biodiversity in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, there's a need for long-term solutions that are sustainable, if the stunning tigers of Malaysia are to have a future.
July 2025: Fauna and Flora International have an appeal to raise funds to make sure rangers have everything they need to give rangers the equipment they need to protect wildlife. The appeal focuses on Eastern Lowland Gorillas, but opaki are among the species who live in the Maiko National Park, as do African Forest Elephants, leopards, chimpanzees and many rare birds. Find out more here.
The okapi live in the dense jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The opaki is under threat
Although it is a respected cultural symbol of the DRC (have had protect status since 1933), the opaki is threatened by human activities: slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal gold mining, logging, encroachment from human settlement and bush-meat poaching.
Enter the Opaki Conservation Project
Enter the Opaki Conservation Project which works to protect the natural habitat of the opaki and indigenous Mbuti pygmies who lives in the Opaki Wildlife Reserve. It also looks to promote the species around the world.
The reserve itself is a designated World Heritage Site. It sits within the Ituri Forest, and it encompasses 13,700 square kilometres. As well as the opaki, it is home to animals such as forest elephants, chimpanzees, 13 species of primates, leopards, bongo antelopes and a huge variety of birds and insects.
OpakiConservation undertakes wildlife protection, community assistance and conservation education. For instance, it has IUCN eco-guards to collect snares, evict miners, pursue and detain poachers, monitor agricultural expansion and biodiversity. This is all aimed to protect, manage and secure the Opaki Wildlife Reserve so that future generations can benefit from its vibrant forest ecosystem.
And it provides rations for forest patrols and support, and it helps educate communiteis so that they are aware of the Reserve's regulations and protects them, too. The opaki is an important symbol of their national heritage.
This video is from the Wildlife Conservation Expo from the Wildlife Conservation Network, back in October 2024. It gives a really good insight into the state of our tropical forests, why the opaki matters - and what efforts are being made to help both the opaki and indigenous people there.
World Opaki Day’s aims
World Opaki Day on 18 October celebrates the opaki – it raises awareness of it as many people have never heard of an opaki. You can find out more about the opaki here.
And crucially, the opaki acts as a flagship species to protect the forest ecosystem where it resides.
There are activities around the villages in the reserve and they are combined to educate local communities and protect the opaki.
2. Recycle your own mobile phone. Did you know that a cell/mobile phones have coltan? It’s a mineral mined in the DRC forests, so if you recycle your phone it means less mining in the forest.
3. Put okapi photos on social media, using the hashtags hashtags #OkapiConservation and #WorldOkapiDay
You could also take a look at the Giraffe and Opaki Specialist Group (GOSG) which consists of experts to study giraffe, opaki and the threats these animals face. The group is leading and supporting conservation actions to ensure that giraffe and opaki survive into the future. The Giraffe Conservation Fund and ZSL (the Zoological Society of London) are co-hosts of the group for giraffe and opaki respectively. Others involved in working for opaki conservation include the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Lukuru Foundation who lead the TL2 Project. The project is seeking to establish a newly protected area - the Lomani National Park - and this area encompasses opaki.
The 22nd June is World Rainforests Day. Rainforests are vital for life to survive on Earth. Their loss threatens our biodiversity and imperils earth’s health. We ignore this loss at our peril.
World Rainforest Day was founded back in 2017 by the Rainforest Partnership. It celebrates the importance of healthy, standing rainforests for climate, biodiversity, culture and livelihoods. Crucially, it convenes a global movement to protect them and restore them. The Pledge programme mentioned below is launching in 2024 to drive rainforest and climate action across all sectors immediately.
Natural climate solutions such as protecting and restoring forests could reverse global emissions by a third, according to World Rainforest Day.
This day is held to celebrate rainforests and encourage us all to protect them. If we can all unite and become a forest of action that rains on earth, then we can make a huge difference.
In 2025, the theme is #BreatheWithUs,
In 2025, World Rainforest Day is aiming to activate one million Planet Walkers to send a global message of human connection. In the world's seven continents, there will be an immersive livestream of forests walks. These will be led by Planet Walkers such as indigenous leaders, scientists, rangers, and changemakers, and they will be guiding everyone through earth's vital ecosystems. Join the Planet Walkers here.
#PlanetWalkers
#BreatheWithUs
#WorldRainforestDay
Be a Planet Walker - take yourself through a forest or park or trail. Share your journey on social media. Why not explain what nature and these forests or parks mean to you and how they benefit your wellbeing?
The World Rainforest Day website has these things we can all do to make a positive impact on rainforests, today and every day:
Ways to help rainforests
Volunteer for a rainforest charity! Many charities need help not just from a practical sense but also in the "back office" with those behind-the-scenes but essential tasks.
Vote with nature in mind! Show leaders that you care about our natural world and want to preserve it.
Choose local products and ask about where items are sourced. Many rainforests are cut down for agriculture and cattle ranching. Go meat free one day a week if you can.
Find out about the different fauna and flora in rainforests, such as lichen. The British Lichen Society has this great video about it from one of Dartmoor's temperate rainforests
Take a look at Global Forest Watch. It is a fascinating site and it provides tools and data for monitoring forests. For instance, you can see the alerts for forests fires
Share your discoveries and what is being done to help rainforests on social media. We need to show people that there is a lot going on - and that people can and do make a difference.
Visit Rainforest Rescue, whose mission is to give the rainforest a voice and preserve it in all its splendor. It has petitions you can sign to give rainforests your voice, and projects it runs to protect them, thanks to donor support. The petitions expose destructive projects and name the perpetrators, so they are important.
There are many charities you can donate to to help rainforests such as the World Land Trust. £100 is one acre protected, but you don't have to give £100. Every bit helps! They have an Action Fundwhich enables them to respond fast when urgent conservation action is needed - find out about that here.