World Female Ranger Week

 

World Female Ranger Week runs from 23rd to 30th June 2026.

Hashtag:  #WorldWomenRangerWeek 
Tag:  @worldfemalerangerweek  @howmanyelephants

This is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the incredible work these very courageous women do and to raise awareness of it and the challenges they face.   It is very dangerous work, as women face poachers and wild animals.  They protect wildlife, empower women and uplift communities, and this is a great chance to support them around the world and protect its wildlife, biodiveristy and wild spaces. 

A huge thank you...

Thank you to all rangers worldwide, particularly women during this week, for all you do to face danger, make sacrifices and protect our precious wildlife.  You are inspiring, both for what you do for wildlife and for showing women what they can do in the face of the most dangerous challenges.

 


Find out more here.

The event is organised by How Many Elephants, a UK registered charity, number 1186238. The charity works to educate people around the world about the terrible impacts of the African elephant ivory trade.  World Female Ranger Week raises vital funds for the front-line female rangers.  Thus far, the campaign has reached 500 million + people around the world.  The week is now in its sixth year.  It was founded by Holly Budge, and her NGO How Many Elephants (itself a UK registered charity).  

In 2026, there’s live events, a new education programme for young conservationists and the World Female Ranger Awards.  These awards are open for nominations now.

These female rangers educate people, protect wildlife, they are breadwinners – and often the first women in their families to earn a salary, own property or access higher education. 

Less than 11% of the world's rangers are women, and yet these women are showing what they can do in traditional male roles - and that is changing the attitudes towards women in Africa and further afield.  Crucially, they are role models for youngsters, especially young women. 

 

 

Global voices for conservation and women...

In Pakistan, Hassena Anbarin patrols remote mountain forests and mentors young girls.  She says, “When young girls tell me they didn’t know this job existed for them, I know I’m doing something that matters.” She has a degree in Forestry. 

In Kenya, Purity Masuntu joined the Mara Elephant Project, earned her drone pilot’s licence and leads the Bravo ranger team.  She protects her ancestral land from illegal logging and encroachment.  She wants her children to grow up in the knowledge that she, their mother, is doing something important.

In Australia, Larissa Hale is Founder of the Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network.  She was also a 2022 Earthshot prize winner, and she defends the northeast coast where rainforest meets reef.  She does this through modern tools, such as drones, data mapping and fire monitoring – and weaving them with many years of indigenous ecological knowledge.

In Indonesia, Pera Pinem was the first female ranger in North Sumatra.  She was critictised by both her family and community for joining over night jungle patrols with her male colleagues.  She is a key member of the Sumatran Ranger Project and monitors biodiversity, prevents forest encroachment and works with local communities to reduce conflict with Sumtran tigers and elephants. 

The World Female Ranger Week will be online.  It will also be LIVE in Zambia, with skills workshops community and school visits and press and government engagement. 

As well as the World Female Ranger Awards, the week wants to hear from female rangers all over the world – please share your story with them.  It also focuses on new education resources for schools worldwide, to inspire the next generation of conversationists.  And there are sponsorship and partnership opportunities available. 

Please visit World Female Ranger Week here

What's on during #WorldWomenRangerWeek

During World Female Ranger Week, each day has its own theme, starting with Day One on the 23rd June:

  • June 23: Protectors of the Planet

  • June 24: The Power of Women 

  • June 25: Impact

  • June 26: Innovation

  • June 27: Voices from the Field

  • June 28: Breaking Barriers

  • June 29: Allies in Action

Don’t forget to tag @worldfemalerangerweek

The site for World Female Ranger Week has tool kits for supporters, rangers, journalists and teachers.  And they want to hear the story of female rangers - you can share your stories here. 

There are plenty of things you can do to get involved:  donate, fundraise, volunteer, get creative, get social to spread the word and buy artwork!

There are also the World Female Ranger Awards to give international recognition to female rangers globally who have shown dedication and commitment to protecting wildlife species and wild spaces.  You can nominate a ranger here.

 

Find out more about women wildlife rangers! 

Take a look at Team Lioness and a video about them.  They are a group of women in southern Kenya, and they work to protect wildlife on the Maasai land around the Amboseli National Park. They are the first line of defence against the poaching and retaliatory killing of wildlife such as cheetahs, giraffes, elephants and lions.  Find out more about Team Lioness from IFAW

Great Plains Conservation are empowering women working on the front line in conservation. They are biodiversity monitors, and gather essential data about the areas they patrol.  They also act as early detection forces against illegal wildlife crime.  See their You Tube Video  Read the female rangers' updates here.  and Find out more from the Great Plains Foundation whose Founders and Chair include Dereck and Beverly Joubert 

Women Ranger Environmental Network (WREN).  WWF Australia works with WREN to run this network.  Its mission is to create a world in which people in nature live in harmony.  Indigenous women work in Aboriginal Land Councils, Aboriginal Corporations and other conservation partners.  They cover threatened species, fire, feral animals and plants, revegetation, and other projects are vital to conservation and they live in some of the most remote, challenging areas in Australia.  Find out more.


Other Resources:

The BBC's The Conversation.  This podcast was released in November 2021.  Kim Chakanetsa is joined by Tsakane Nxumalo, a junior ranger from The Black Mambas.  They are an all female ranger unit in South Africa and they work in the Greater Kruger National Park, protecting rhino herds.  Lisa Siamusantu is part of Kufadza, which is Zambia’s first all-female anti-poaching community scout unit.  They work with Conservation Lower Zambezi. 

Find out more about the Black Mambas in the Great Kruger National Park

Find out more about Conservation Lower Zambezi.