Each year, World Female Ranger Week highlights the work and voices of female rangers around the world. To mark this year’s event from June 23-30, Holly Budge, founder of WFRW and of the NGO How Many Elephants, profiles five women paving the way in conservation from Liberia to Peru.
They’re not just protecting wildlife. They’re fighting wildfires, tracking elephants, defying cultural expectations, and tackling some of the planet’s most urgent environmental crises.
From human-wildlife conflict in Liberia and gender equity in India, to preserving ancestral lands in Australia and gaining legal protections for bees in Peru, these women face vastly different challenges. But they share a united mission: Defending life on Earth through courage, innovation, and deep-rooted community wisdom. They’re not only changing how conservation is done—they’re changing who is leading it.
World Female Ranger Week returns on June 23–30, a global initiative I created to amplify the voices of women on the frontlines of conservation. Through widespread media outreach and a targeted grant program, the campaign is shining a spotlight on the vital—and often overlooked—role of female rangers worldwide.
Having worked closely with many of these women, I’ve witnessed how their influence extends far beyond protecting the natural world. As educators, role models, and changemakers, female rangers are transforming perceptions of what women can achieve, both within their communities and on the global stage. Here are five remarkable women who are reshaping the future of conservation.
On Australia’s northeast coast, where the rainforest meets the reef, a new wave of conservation is taking root, and it’s being led by Indigenous women like Larissa Hale.
A Jalunji Warra woman of the Yuku Baja Muliku people, Larissa is blending thousands of years of traditional ecological knowledge with cutting-edge tools, such as drones, data mapping, and fire monitoring, to defend land and sea. Her work spans from coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef to the bushfires that devastate inland biodiversity.
As managing director of the Yuku Baja Muliku Land Corporation and founder of the Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network, Larissa advocates for a conservation model that respects culture, strengthens communities, and builds climate resilience. Her belief: Traditional knowledge and Western science must walk side by side.
In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious Earthshot Prize. Today, as an ambassador for World Female Ranger Week, she continues to uplift the voices of Indigenous women defending some of the world’s most sacred and fragile ecosystems. “Pride in our country is linked to caring for our country and our people,” says Larissa.
In the heart of the Amazon, where biodiversity is both breathtaking and under siege, Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza is reshaping how we think about conservation. A chemical biologist and explorer with Andean-Amazonian roots, Rosa bridges Indigenous knowledge and modern science.
Inspired by her grandmother’s medicinal garden, what she calls a “natural pharmacy”, Rosa’s work spans from rainforest microbes to national policy. As the founder of Amazon Research Internacional (ARI), she’s led groundbreaking studies on the Amazon’s boiling river, catalogued medicinal honeys from stingless bees, and played a pivotal role in securing legal protection for both the bees and traditional healing practices under Peruvian law.
Rosa’s work is deeply scientific, but also deeply personal. Her mission: To show that conservation isn’t just about protecting species, but safeguarding the invisible connections between people, plants, knowledge, and place that hold ecosystems together. “Nature is alive and we must listen to her,” says Rosa.
In the floodplains of Assam, where elephants and rhinos roam, a quiet revolution is underway, led by Dr. Sonali Ghosh, the first woman to head one of Asia’s most iconic national parks.
As Field Director of Kaziranga National Park, Sonali became the first woman in the park’s century-long history to hold the role. Under her leadership, Kaziranga achieved a major milestone: A year without a single rhino poached. Her strategy combines smart surveillance with inclusive leadership.
With over two decades of experience in forest and wildlife management, Sonali has built her career on protecting biodiversity while empowering others to do the same. She created India’s first all-female rhino protection unit and strengthened relationships with Indigenous communities, bridging conservation, gender equity, and cultural understanding in one of the world’s most high-pressure conservation hotspots.
In 2024, Sonali received the World Female Ranger Trailblazer Award in recognition of her pioneering work. “I’m honored and humbled to be counted among some of the most inspiring female conservation leaders in the world,” she says. “And to be joined in the universal sisterhood with a common goal. This award is for every girl, every young woman who chose the road less travelled and dared to dream.”
Liberia’s East Nimba Nature Reserve is both a biodiversity hotspot and a conflict zone. Poaching, logging, and human-wildlife conflict pose significant threats to both chimpanzees and the communities that live nearby. Working inside it is Grace Kotee Zansi, one of Liberia’s first female rangers, a biologist, elephant tracker, and educator, who works closely with Liberia Chimp Rescue & Protection.
Grace grew up in a remote village where wildlife was often feared or hunted. As a child, she was deeply troubled by the killing of animals and made a promise to protect Liberia’s forests. Today, that vow has become her life’s mission.
Grace works not just in the forest, but with local communities, leading education efforts to shift attitudes and reduce conflict with chimpanzees and elephants. Her voice carries weight in a space where gender stereotypes have long gone unchallenged. In her words: “If the forest could speak, the first thing she would say is: ‘I’m under threat.’”
It’s not easy doing this work in a conflict zone. “We celebrate the invaluable role women play in the protection of the world’s wildlife,” says Jenny Desmond, founder of Liberia Chimp Rescue & Protection. “We stand by them in solidarity as they face extraordinary challenges and achieve remarkable successes.”
In the dense rainforests of North Sumatra, where Sumatran elephants move along ancient paths and orangutans swing through the canopies, one woman is challenging centuries of social tradition.
Pera Pinem is the first female ranger in North Sumatra, stepping into a field long dominated by men, where women were told they didn’t belong. Criticized by her family and community, especially for joining overnight jungle patrols alongside her male colleagues, Pera’s journey was marked by resistance but also by resilience.
As a key member of the Sumatran Ranger Project, she monitors biodiversity, prevents forest encroachment, and works with local villagers to reduce conflict between people and endangered wildlife, including the Sumatran tiger and elephant. “I am very proud to be a ranger,” says Pera.
As we mark World Female Ranger Week (June 23–30), these stories remind us that conservation isn’t just a job. It’s a calling. These women aren’t just protecting wildlife; they’re defending culture, shifting paradigms, and building a future where equity is part of the environmental solution. They remind us that nature’s fiercest protectors don’t all look the same and that the frontlines of conservation are as diverse as the planet itself.
Follow and connect: @worldfemalerangerweek | @howmanyelephants | @hollybudge
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Holly Budge is the founder of UK charity How Many Elephants and World Female Ranger Week whose work has been celebrated worldwide, including by Sir David Attenborough. Voted ‘Woman of the Year in Non-Profit’ and listed in the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise, Holly is an official UN Women UK Delegate and professional speaker. Her pursuits include summiting Everest and becoming the first woman to skydive Everest to raise awareness and funding for conservation; to date, she's raised over £500,000. Find out more about her work at hollybudge.com
