A RANGER is a keeper of a designated land or sea area, usually a park or protected and conserved area. A national ranger, in Papua New Guinea (PNG), can be someone managing and protecting PNG’s national parks such as the Varirata National Park.

This is usually a government-approved designation. Community rangers are usually the local landowners and members of communities appointed locally to look after forest land or sea and its living, natural resources – such appointment is voluntary.

In 2012, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) identified biodiversity hotspots in the Eastern Melanesian Islands (Fig. 1). Because of the unique, geological nativity and formation of the islands, the insular systems (compared to mainland PNG) are diverse in terms of flora and fauna. In PNG, priority forest lands and freshwaters identified by CEPF include the Central Manus, Mussau, New Ireland (Cape St. George), New Britain Island (Baining Mountains), and Bougainville Island (Kunua Plains, Mt. Balbi) (Fig. 2). New species are frequently being described from these areas, many awaiting descriptions, and many more awaiting discovery. Conservation of portions of forest lands and seas must be a priority for the local communities that live by these areas. Their efforts can always be amplified through partnership with existing organizations (e.g. WCS, FORCERT, Live & Learn, Mahonia Na Dahri).

This month (Jan-Feb.), members of local communitiesfrom the New Guinea Islands Region (NGI) participated in a ranger training hosted by the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre in Madang (Fig. 3). The three-weeks-long training covered concepts and processes involved in becoming a ranger. This included roles and responsibilities, wildlife monitoring, scientific methods for community ecology for different groups of animals, plants and insects, processes involved in setting up and managing community protected area and how to establish and work in partnership with technical NGOs, donors and charity organizations. The training also covered basic field methods in biodiversity inventory and monitoring and ways on how to secure funding to sustain their community projects.The training is the first to unite the interested communities based out of CEPF’s Eastern Melanesian Biodiversity Hotspots. The only organizations in PNG that have trained community rangers include the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program in the YUS Conservation Area, the Tenkile Conservation Alliance, PNG Treaty Villages in Western Province and the Kokoda Trek Initiative.

Lightly trained but highly motivated from this training, the participants will return to their respective provinces in the NGI. Their concern now is to protect and sustainably manage the natural, living resources and their habitats. Consequences of their efforts will be of ultimate global significance in terms of climate resilience. We thank the organizations that continue to support the local communities and appeal to industries and provincial governments of each NGI provinces to support communities engaged in environment and rural livelihood programs.