Wild Nature Institute hosts Ranger Appreciation Day

Wild Nature Institute was honored to host a ‘Ranger Appreciation Day’ on Monday for the courageous, hard-working village game scouts from Burunge Wildlife Management Area.

Wild Nature Institute's Monica Bond, Derek Lee, and Gasto Mahoo with village game scouts from Burunge WMA and PAMS Foundation

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are village-run community conservation areas that use proceeds from tourism to fund land-use planning and natural resource protection to conserve important wildlife habitat. The Burunge WMA forms a wildlife corridor and habitat reserve between Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks.

Giraffe at Lake Manyara National Park

Village game scouts from Burunge are equipped and trained by our partners at PAMS Foundation. PAMS also plans and funds the patrols, prepares for and supports court cases, compiles reports, and maintains the database. Tourism provides additional funding for the WMA. The scouts patrol the WMA day and night removing traps and snares set by poachers, and apprehend poachers through evidence-gathering. In just the past few months, their efforts have led to the arrest of three giraffe poachers in the area.

Wild Nature Institute hosted a barbeque to thank them for their critical work, which contributes to the sustainability of wildlife populations in the Burunge WMA. We are grateful to PAMS and the village game scouts. We're sure the giraffes thank them, too!

Extra special thanks to Ameir Dahal of PAMS Foundation for organizing this event.