World Ranger Day is marked worldwide each year on July 31st, both to celebrate the work Rangers do to protect the planet's natural resources and cultural heritage, and to commemorate Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty.
In 2022 the Tasmanian Rangers Association had a stall at Hobart's famous Salamanca Markets, where we teamed up with the Thin Green Line Foundation to promote the role of protected area workers. So for 2023 we wanted to make it an even bigger day!
We returned to the market, where a number of members were on hand to mix with the public, talking about what we do and how they can help out. We had set up showing many different aspects of the work we do and the gear we use, but in the long run, the stuffed Devil stole the show again.
We had also arranged for Tasman Bridge to be lit green across the weekend, forming an appropriate Thin Green Line across the Derwent, visible to everyone in Hobart and around the world via social media. It sounds like we may have started something which has already spread to the mainland and around the world for World Ranger Day next year: watch this space.
There was a sold-out Peppermint Bay cruise with Daniel J Townsend under these green lights, and Tiffany Eckhardt and Dave Steel had a gig at the Fern Tree Tavern, all to raise money for Ugandan Rangers. (See this article for a look at what the rangers there are up against.) Phil Wise, former Parkie and TRA member was raising funds for Rangers in Uganda via a number of fundraising activities and was able to generate over $10 000 in donations.
And a big shout out from young Stella who came to visit us at Salamanca. It will be Stella's generation that will benefit from the work that Rangers are doing today. We all stand taller when we stand with the world's rangers.
