OUR WORK
Human Rights Training for Conservation
Human Rights are a fundamental concept central to all of ESPA’s activities. Building trust in the communities that live in and around protected areas is the cornerstone of functional ranger operations, and that trust can only be generated by the effective implementation of human rights-based operations.
We design and teach wildlife ranger codes of conduct to help law enforcement in remote, rural and often dangerous environments carry out their duties with due regard for international human rights. We have developed an effective two-week human rights scenario-based training course that gives rangers increased confidence in implementing human-rights observant arrest procedures, interviews, and confrontations with other parties when on patrol. If rangers apply the relevant country laws fairly and without discrimination and do not arbitrarily use excessive force, then local communities can provide information and also gain a greater understanding of conservation aims through open interaction with the protected area authorities. This hearts-and-minds approach is particularly necessary where there are complex issues of human-animal conflict and the development of local resources that clash with the conservation of ecosystems and wildlife.
