The World Ranger Congress just completed in Colorado where Global Conservation sponsored rangers from Mirador National Park, protecting the heart of the Maya Biosphere from illegal logging, poaching, land clearing and looting of archaeological sites.
Park Rangers are increasingly coming under lethal threat due to heavily armed wildlife poachers, miners and illegal loggers in our national parks.
Around the globe, park rangers are on the front line in the fight to protect our natural world heritage. Over 1,000 rangers have been killed in gun battles with poachers and organized crime groups over the past ten years.
The World Ranger Congress 2016 brought together over 200 rangers and park managers from 40 countries to undertake training on park management, anti-poaching, law enforcement, leadership development, park planning and design and sustainable tourism development.
Global Conservation sponsored two lead rangers from Mirador National who have returned to be the lead rangers in the newly established Mirador ranger patrols.
Mirador National Park is facing accelerating threats as the frontier of fire and land clearing for cattle ranching is now encroaching on the surrounding communities. The Maya Biosphere Reserve has lost over 80% of its intact tropical forests since 2000.
Fires in the Maya Biosphere Reserve 2010-2015
The World Ranger Congress USA hosted ranger and park authority delegates from 40+ countries will explore the various ways rangers and protected area professionals are actively protecting and preserving the world's natural and cultural resources from ever-increasing threats like climate change and poaching.
Under the theme “Connecting Parks, Rangers and Communities," objectives for the program are to:
US Senators Visit Mirador National Park, A Powerful Model for Conservation and Development
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez says the United States can and should do more to help develop tourism and industry in the country, alleviating the “push factors” for irregular migration
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