Altin Gysman, Head Protected Area Integrity Unit /African Field Ranger Training Services
The last quarter has been a busy one for the Protected Area Integrity department, specifically for African Field Ranger Training Services with course running both nationally and internationally.
We embarked on training in Namibia by training Field Rangers of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park (KAZA) Secretariat, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism coordinated by Peace Parks Foundation (PPF). Mr Tirivanhu Chakanyuka, our Specialist Training Officer, successfully trained 45 candidates in Namibia.
This quarter we were also approached by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) in Liberia to conduct training on their behalf. Mr Excelent Macabe our Senior Training Officer and Mr Gert Dibakoane travelled to train rangers in the west African country, Sierra Leone. The rangers that were trained were from Liberia as well as Sierra Leone. Since doing training for the first time in Sierra Leone, which was certainly exciting, our trainers realised that they needed to better acquaint themselves with the areas that we are working in prior to departure whilst also considering possibly adapting our training methodology. All in all, the training went well, and we have also grown as a result of this intervention.
We also started with a Human Rights Training Course in Mozambique where Zinave National Park and Banhine National Park were part of the first round of training. Mr Brendon Persens will embark on his next trip to Maputo National Park as well as to Limpopo National Park later this year. This training intervention is done on behalf of the Peace Parks Foundation as part of its development strategy.
On the national front, we ran some great courses, which included the Field Ranger Law Enforcement Armed course where 10 students from the community are sponsored by Friends of African Wildlife. We also engaged in the training of Environmental Monitors thereby assisting SANParks on the fence line of the Kruger National Park as part of the GEF 6 Programme.
Mr Colin Patrick from Counter Insurgency Tracking Training also completed a tracking course with students from EXARRO as well as for staff from the training department. We must again thank Nkombe Rhino, specifically Mr Rowan Ferreira, for the donation of T-shirts and caps. We also want to express gratitude to Mr Danie Vermeulen from Meletse Game Reserve who has generously sponsored the unit with some clothing and equipment.
Thank you to all our donors for making this ranger training possible.
