Transforming Bhutan's Ranger Training Institute

Coinciding with the World Ranger Day, WWF Bhutan in collaboration with the Department of Forests and Park Services launched Conservation Law Enforcement Curriculum Framework on July 31, 2022. Here is a short documentary of the Rangers time at UWICER, Bumthang while undergoing Conservation law Enforcement Training of Trainer in May this year.

The Conservation Law Enforcement Curriculum Framework comes at a time when wildlife crime, poaching, and retaliatory killing are emerging too rapidly. It has become critical to ensure that the skills and knowledge of the individuals protecting the wildlife is updated. The training need assessment conducted for the same showed the inadequacies.

Therefore, the Department of Forests and Park Services through UWICER in collaboration with WWF and Southern African Wildlife College experts worked together to develop a curriculum to transform Bhutan’s Ranger and enhance the capacity in combating wildlife crimes.

The curriculum spreads over 5 weeks and covers comprehensive modules, including the conservation law enforcement within Bhutanese context, equip and provide the Rangers with a strong foundation in conservation ethics, national and international law, and relevant regulations.

This is because our rangers are the only line of defense between poachers, loggers, and wildlife.

The video was published on Rangers Day to honour the rangers who lost their lives in line of duty and as a respect to those working in the frontline today.