Labour Perspectives on Frontline conservation Work

Recent conservation social science work on rangers highlights the importance of rangers as the primary actors in doing the work of conservation in protected areas Such work thus positions rangers as both the most important as well as vulnerable actors in addressing wildlife crime, (including and not limited to illegal hunting and poaching, illicit logging and collection of non-timber forest products. Rangers more broadly, are on-the-ground. engaged in protecting and conserving wildlife, forests, and achieving intertwined social and ecological objectives of conservation and human development. Despite the multi-faceted nature of ranger work and the political economic and socio-cultural contexts they operate in, rangers and their work are often portrayed in simplistic terms. Mainstream discourse in conservation natural sciences and policy,, for example, often tends to simplistically portray rangers as heroes fighting against villainous poachers. On the other hand, some critical approaches in conservation social science, like political ecology, can be quick to point to rangers as wielders of unjust violence in pursuit of conservation objectives. While we recognise that rangers do often use violence and are also important actors in saving conserving biodiversity and saving particular species, any binary or simplistic portrayals of rangers and their work risks glossing over more complex realities that are important to understanding the challenges and opportunities in supporting rangers and the broader social and ecological objectives of biodiveristy conservation that their work underpins