European Ranger Federation

10/10/2026

✉️ In our open letter to the the European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall, the UN department for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and to IPBES Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, we express the deep concern of the entire European ranger community regarding the ongoing illegal killing and trapping of birds along key migration routes.

👉 Read open letter now:

https://www.europeanrangers.org/open-letter-calls-to-protect-migratory-birds-from-illegal-killing/

This is a serious gap in law enforcement that must be addressed urgently. European rangers are ready to assist with enforcement on the ground. However, to do so effectively, support is needed:

‼️ We call on the addressees to step up law enforcement across Europe and along the African-Eurasian flyway, to provide it with adequate resources, and to ensure proper coordination to implement laws on the ground.

🪶 To make the birds’ migration routes safe once again and protect our global heritage, we remain open to cooperation with decision makers and stakeholders – on today’s World Migratory Bird Day and every other day.

📸 credits: Malta Ranger Unit

09/10/2026

Want to become a Ranger?
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Apply by 15 October!

08/10/2026

Getting people involved with nature is a goal Fabienne Dahinden firmly believes in. She works as a ranger in the Swiss cantons of Aargau and Zurich. And time and again, she meets people who have a very different relationship with nature to her own.

🤝 Her approach: dialogue and engagement. “People need to develop a greater appreciation for nature again. And you don’t achieve that through fines,” she says in our interview.

📖 Read about her daily challenges, her hope that rangers will become more like advocates for nature, and how fieldwork and office work complement each other for her:

👉 Click link in comments!

02/10/2026

🔥 It was a week packed with valuable insights into wildfire investigation from international experts, as well as learning from fellow rangers and conservation specialists:

our Wildfire Investigation Training, organised in collaboration with the Public Enterprise for Nacionalni parkovi Crne Gore / National parks of Montenegro (JPNPCG) in and around Lovćen National Park, Montenegro, was, as one of the participants put it, ‘pure gold’.

🎬 Here are further reactions and insights from the participants and trainers, along with their views on why this topic is so crucial for rangers and conservationists – who often are the first on site – in the face of rampant climate change.
Find out everything about the training week: read our report:

https://www.europeanrangers.org/european-rangers-strengthen-wildfire-investigation-skills-in-montenegro/

🙏 A huge thank you to the whole JPNPCG team, our fantastic trainers, the organisations that made the programme possible, and to all the participants – you’ve all contributed to this insightful, positive week!

Agents Rurals de Catalunya - Associació Professional

Credits: JPNPCG with English subtitles by ERF

19/09/2026

Happening now in Montenegro: our joint Wildfire Investigation Training with Nacionalni parkovi Crne Gore / National parks of Montenegro🔥

📌Javno preduzeće za nacionalne parkove Crne Gore (JPNPCG), u saradnji sa Evropskom Federacijom Rendžera (ERF), od 21. do 27. septembra 2026. godine organizuje naprednu obuku za istraživanje požara na otvorenom prostoru, na području Cetinja i Nacionalnog parka Lovćen.

👥 Tokom višednevne obuke, 15 učesnika unaprijediće teorijska i praktična znanja iz oblasti istraživanja požara, od utvrđivanja mjesta i uzroka nastanka požara, zaštite mjesta događaja i pravilnog rukovanja dokazima, do dokumentovanja istrage i primjene savremenih metoda na terenu.

📚Obuku vode međunarodno priznati stručnjaci sa bogatim iskustvom u ovoj oblasti, a poseban akcenat stavljen je na praktičan rad i razmjenu iskustava.

🌿 Ovakve aktivnosti doprinose jačanju stručnih kapaciteta i međuinstitucionalne saradnje u oblasti prevencije, istraživanja i odgovora na požare, sa posebnim značajem za zaštitu prirodnih područja i biodiverziteta Crne Gore.

📜Svečana dodjela sertifikata i oficijelni dio završnog dana obuke biće održani u subotu, 26. septembra, u JU „Lovćen-Bečići“ na Ivanovim koritima.

👉Obuka se realizuje uz podršku Ministarstva ekologije, održivog razvoja i razvoja sjevera, u okviru GEF-7 projekta, kao i uz podršku Prijestonice Cetinje, Službe zaštite i spašavanja Prijestonice Cetinje i JU „Lovćen-Bečići“.

18/09/2026

Even back then, when it was still far from the norm for women in Ukraine, she wanted to become a ranger.

🔥 Today, Nataliia Kubaichuk – who has since completed her law degree – is head of the ranger service at Національний природний парк "Верховинський" Verkhovynskyi National Nature Park.

💬 With live translation provided by Франкфуртське зоологічне товариство в Україні // FZS Ukraine, Nataliia told us what it was like to be the first woman – and, on top of that, the head – of the ranger team. Something that has since become completely normal for her male colleagues.

🏔️ How she and her team work every day in one of the most remote protected areas of the Carpathians to combat environmental crime and protect its natural treasures – and her greatest hope for female rangers:

💡 Find out in our interview (link to interviews in bio)!

13/09/2026

🐢 They were the first volunteers to work on sea turtle conservation as part of our joint project with the FMB - Maio Biodiversity Foundation: the two rangers, Gemma Mateu and Sandra Porcell, took a week’s break from their work in Catalonia to join our programme for volunteers on the Cape Verdean island of Maio.

🏝️ Find out what the two of them learnt and experienced during this special kind of holiday, and how their initial experiences with sea turtles – which are just beginning to nest in Catalonia – are complemented by the expertise of the Maio Biodiversity Foundation’s nature conservation specialists:

👉 Read our interview: https://www.europeanrangers.org/sea-turtle-conservation-on-maio-island-the-first-volunteers-report/

💭 One thing is certain: a dream has come true for the two rangers.

And even though the season is gradually drawing to a close: volunteers are welcome – if not this year, then definitely again next year! Find all details here:

https://www.europeanrangers.org/sea-turtle-conservation-programme-looking-for-volunteer-rangers/

11/09/2026

We conclude our series on the ERF Female Ranger Survey with questions on financial equality, workplace culture, recognition of female rangers’ authority, and the sources of harassment, which 34.6 per cent report.

⚠️ 42 female rangers experience gender-based harassment from externals – ranging from catcalling and sexist insults to extreme threats of violence or sexual abuse.

⚠️ As many as 23 female rangers experience sexist comments, dismissive attitudes, exclusion from field and technical work, and other inappropriate behaviour even within their organisation.

⛔️ Absolutely none of this should be part of a woman’s everyday life as a ranger. This is therefore one of the findings for which our report sets out initial strategic recommendations, including mandatory anti-bias training for all hierarchy-levels, a safe infrastructure for female rangers, and women-specific personal protective equipment.

🔥 After all, when it comes to protecting nature, no organisation can afford to do without the professional strengths of female rangers. What our survey participants see as these strengths: read also about this in the report on our website:

https://www.europeanrangers.org/european-female-ranger-survey-results-another-reason-to-unite-our-forces/

📣 Finally, a call to all female rangers: Don’t miss our ERF Female Ranger Workshop in October:

https://www.europeanrangers.org/event/workshop-european-female-rangers-key-challenges-and-joint-solutions/

⚖️ We will jointly develop concrete strategies based on the survey’s findings – so that women can finally become a natural part of the ranger workforce on equal footing.

09/09/2026

Today’s extract from our report on the ERF Female Ranger Survey focuses on

📊 main areas of responsibility for female rangers
📊 their presence out in the field
📊 their typical length of employment

Whilst the latter – with the majority of respondents having between 0 and 10 years’ professional experience – indicates an urgent need for robust female employee retention and mentoring programmes, the fact that most respondents spend more than half their working hours in the field shows that female rangers are well integrated into fieldwork. 🥾

When it comes to typical areas of responsibility, a varied picture emerges, with combating environmental crime featuring alongside environmental education among the top tasks of female rangers.

💡 But how are tasks distributed between the genders? 86.8 per cent of respondents stated that their duties do not differ from those of their male colleagues, and the division of duties is often left to ‘self-organisation’.

📋 Nevertheless, respondents repeatedly mention that women are still frequently steered towards administrative or paperwork-heavy roles, whilst male colleagues are assigned the bulk of the heavy physical labour.

👉 Explore the full report on our ERF Female Ranger Survey, featuring responses from 162 female rangers across 20 countries in our region, along with analyses and recommendations:

on our website (link in bio!)

03/09/2026

Thanks to 162 respondents from 20 countries, our ERF Female Ranger Survey sheds light on the situation, challenges and issues faced by female rangers across the European continent. 🌍

🫶 Our huge thanks to all the women that took the time to respond – and a warm invitation to everyone else to have a look at the truly valuable results, which are now online.

📊 To start with, you can see here which regions and countries our participants come from. And, looking across all the ranger teams covered by the survey, the participants’ answers make clear that women in the ranger profession still represent a significant minority also in Europe, accounting for just 19.6 per cent of the total ranger workforce. 

🔥 The survey results are crucial for us to further develop our ERF Female Ranger Project – by addressing precisely the challenges that emerge from the findings. And with the ultimate goal of significantly increasing the proportion of female rangers. 📈

This is not only essential for equal opportunities and balanced ranger teams, which can only benefit from the integration of women’s skills. 

🌿 It will also make the work rangers are committed to – protecting our remaining natural treasures – far more efficient.

👉 Starting today, we will be presenting excerpts from the results of the ERF Female Ranger Survey here.

You can find the full report on our website (link in bio!).