The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas International Ranger Award recognise and celebrate Protected Area rangers and their vital and often challenging work, and advocate for support and improvement of working conditions in order to accelerate nature conservation. Between 2021-2024, 59 awards have been presented to teams and individuals from 32 countries, totalling a value of $480,000 in the last three cycles.
Find out more about the awards and how to nominate an inspiring ranger or ranger teams deserving recognition from your organisation or area.
The awards are hosted by the IUCN and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, in collaboration with the International Ranger Federation, Conservation Allies, Universal Ranger Support Alliance, and IUCN-US.
Meet some past awardees to learn about their work and accomplishments.
Cristián Andrés Vásquez Bermúdez from Colombia was presented with an International Ranger Award in 2023 for perseverance, leadership and achievement in researching and conserving one of the most biodiverse places on earth.
Coming from humble beginnings and overcoming extreme challenges, Cristián has risen to become head ranger of El Dorado Bird Reserve. With his small team, he has endured threats to his life, while successfully tackling poaching, encroachment and forest fires in one of the most biodiverse and irreplaceable places on earth. As a self-taught expert naturalist, he is instrumental in saving numerous species from extinction and to discovering new and lost species.
Cristián shares his passion and care with the local community, working with local children and community members to share the wonders of nature and the fruits of his team’s work.
In an interview for the IUCN Unite for Nature Magazine, Cristián notes that the work is varied, and includes maintenance of infrastructure, monitoring birds, patrolling to stop poaching and deforestation, and fighting forest fires. He said he hopes there will be a reversal of deforestation, poaching and littering on the Chamicero de Perija Reserve and that future generations will see the rangers as protectors of nature.
After receiving the Award, Cristián supported expenses of park rangers related to operations, improvement of rangers’ station infrastructure, equipment, local road and construction of a surveillance cabin to allow better communication and monitoring of the reserve.
Cristián also engaged in conservation of the Santa Marta Parakeet habitat, by running workshops for rangers and local communities and engaging with reforestation of plants preferred by the species. In his own words “We all come into the world with a purpose; birds and snakes have a purpose on the planet and people cannot harm part of this chain.”