NPAQ Welcomes Promise of 150 New Rangers

NPAQ’s CEO Chris Thomas was recently invited to comment on the Queensland LNP’s election promise to add 150 new park rangers to help manage the state’s protected areas under the More Rangers, Better Neighbours policy.

Park rangers undertake a complex range of daily tasks throughout national parks worldwide. NPAQ believes that increasing the number of roles in Queensland will give rangers more time to focus on the critical biodiversity aspects of the job, including wildlife conservation, feral pest and weed management, fire management and preserving natural and cultural values. More rangers will also encourage safe and sustainable visitation that inspires an ongoing love for nature and concern for the environment.

Mr Thomas met with Shadow Minister for the Environment Sam O’Connor at Burleigh Head National Park for a press conference on 18 September 2024. “Increasing investment is critically important for enabling QPWS to maintain the natural and cultural values that parks were established to protect,” stated NPAQ’s CEO, “as well as for providing and maintaining an expanding and diverse range of suitable, safe and sustainable visitor experiences.

“NPAQ has played a pivotal role in the creation of many national parks in Queensland and has a specific mission to ensure the protection, expansion, effective management and presentation of national parks and other protected areas across Queensland,” he added. To view video footage of the press conference on Facebook, please click HERE.

Rangers will obviously play a significant role in helping the Federal Government meet its goal of protecting 30% of Australia’s landmass by 2030, which is target 3 of the UN Environment Programme’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Queensland’s commitment to increasing its percentage of protected areas from the current 8.6% of the state to 17% of the state’s land mass will assist in meeting the 30×30 commitment nationally. Many more rangers will be needed to manage these additional and expanded protected areas, both in Queensland, throughout Australia, and around the world. The International Ranger Federation (IRF) has estimated that 1.5 million new ranger positions will be required worldwide by 2030.

From 7–11 October, park rangers from around the globe will descend on Hyeres, France, for the International Ranger Federation’s World Ranger Congress (WRC), which has the theme ‘Contributions and developments of the ranger profession in order to achieve target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (30 by 30 target)’. The Congress will also publish the first ever State of the Ranger report as a baseline for the current state of the profession internationally. The Hyeres Declaration – a call to action that aims to strengthen rangers’ roles in biodiversity protection and has received comment from ranger organisations and relevant stakeholders globally – will be finalised during the conference and presented at the upcoming UN Convention on Biodiversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia from 21 October to 1 November 2024.

Additional park rangers are far more than just a ‘nice to have’ on the very long wish list of needs NPAQ advocates for within Queensland’s national parks and protected areas. NPAQ’s Submission to the 2024–2025 State Budget called for an additional 300 rangers at a budgeted cost of $127 million over four years. The LNP’s promise of 150 rangers, half of what NPAQ requested in the budget submission, is nevertheless a worthy downpayment given that more rangers – coupled with increased investment in training, managing and retaining rangers – will be imperative to meeting Australia’s agreed-upon global biodiversity targets.