- More women are taking on ranger roles on Table Mountain, female rangers say.
- Four women are part of a specialised 17-person law enforcement unit working on the mountain.
- World Ranger Day is celebrated annually on 31 July.
"We must protect what we've got."
This is what drives two Capetonians to go to work every day as rangers in a specialised team, promoting safety on Table Mountain.
Rangers Tracy* and Storm* are two specialised South African National Parks (SANParks) rangers that form the Sea, Air, and Mountain (SEAM) Special Operations Unit. The unit of 17 rangers includes four women – something these female rangers believe is evidence of the transformation at work in the conservation sector.
Thirty-four-year-old Tracy has been a ranger for the last decade, having worked in national parks, such as Kalagadi and West Coast parks.
She said:
Tracy works as a supervisor on the SEAM team, overseeing the deployment of the rangers as they carry out their law enforcement duties. This can range from checking fishing permits to preventing poaching of plants from the national park.
"I am making a difference in protecting biodiversity. Our population is growing every day, and we need more land and food. This means protected areas are getting smaller, and we must protect what we've got," she said.
Tracey said there were no easy days on the job.
"It's not a very glamourous job. It's a lot of hard and dirty work, but it's a very rewarding job. The job is very physical and you have to hike in the mountain or even chase suspects. You have to prove yourself every day," she added.
In addition, the women on the team face risks to their personal safety, especially when their law enforcement role has the potential to "get volatile and violent", Storm said.
Storm, 32, became a ranger in 2016 after working as an environmental monitor.
She said:
She loves working in the Table Mountain National Park and finds some new aspects of nature to marvel at almost daily.
"Table Mountain is part of our heritage as Capetonians and South Africans. We should take pride in it. The species that the mountain holds can be found nowhere else in the world. People come from all over to study what we have. Our biodiversity is some of the best in the world," Storm said.
When she started in 2016, there were only "a handful" on women rangers, she said. But now women are visible at every level of the organisation and in leadership positions, she added.
"You can see how women are growing in conservation," she said.
*Names have been withheld to ensure rangers' safety.