WHAT WE ACHIEVE
Reports and Testimonials
Conservation South Luangwa started working with ESPA in 2018. Within a short period of time is was evident to me that ESPA would bring a level of extreme professionalism to our organization and training programs, something that was desperately needed. They enhanced our internal anti-poaching training, and helped us to develop a law enforcement strategy for South Luangwa that is expected to drastically improve levels of protected area management in the area.
ESPA handpicked the perfect team of instructors suited to our complicated needs and ensured continuity with the same team over the past couple of years. We are looking forward to when we can start working with them again to reduce poaching levels in South Luangwa.
With the exponential rise in rhino poaching in South Africa and the anti-poaching response to this by the South African Authorities, the rhino poaching and trafficking syndicates began to look further afield for perceived soft targets. Eswatini lost her first rhino to poaching in 2011, following a 20-year hiatus.
While Eswatini has held a remarkable rhino protection record, we identified the need to upskill our ranger force further in order to face the escalating threat levels safely and with confidence. In 2015, Big Game Parks engaged Endangered Species Protection Agency (ESPA) for this function and Project Alpha was initiated!
Since then, ESPA has provided training for a wide range of important disciplines, building on previous training courses. We have been very happy with the training which has been moulded and contextualised to our local needs. ESPA has always ensured that very good quality instructors have been provided who work well with our rangers.
Our rangers of varying capabilities and ages have responded well to the style of training which has been given. It has been rewarding to watch our ranger force grow their skills and confidence across the 3 parks in their anti-poaching roles. Joint training done together with Royal Eswatini Police officers has also helped to enhance a mutual respect and understanding of the challenges faced.
As a result of ESPA’s training, we have managed to expand Black and White Rhino range, as well as containing the poaching levels, by successfully thwarting rhino poaching attempts when they have occurred.
We would wholeheartedly recommend working with ESPA.
In 2018, working as the Head of Conservation for the Born Free Foundation, ESPA provided me with critically needed security personnel to enable a visit to the Southwest Region of Cameroon, where I had established a project to safeguard forest elephant. The year before, a civil conflict had broken out, which threatened all conservation activity in the region. The provision of ESPA personnel enabled me to reach the regional capital safely and meet with project personnel to forge a crucial roadmap forward. ESPA are highly competent and professional with a lot of Central Africa experience, and their support mitigated many risks that would have prohibited me from visiting the region under these exceptional circumstances.
ESPA are well versed in protected area security and human rights audits and have a well-respected ranger training footprint in central and southern Africa. They are equally adept at delivering high-level investigations into the illegal wildlife trade across Africa and Asia.
Our collaboration with ESPA started in 2019 when they provided the Basic Field Ranger (BFR) training to the Forgotten Parks Foundation at the Complex Upemba-Kundelungu (CUK) in DRC. To protect this unique ecosystem and wildlife from illegal poaching and other threats, a new generation of park rangers needed to be trained.
At this time I didn’t know much about BFR training nor the importance of it for the ranger’s force; it is only after talking to the different ESPA instructors and recruits that I realised how much more than a training service it was.
The training not only focused on the ‘technical’ aspects of the job but was also designed to improve the self-esteem, team skills, and emotional resilience of the young participants. Furthermore, it helped the rangers better understand what human rights standards are and how to respect them when engaging with communities, while being aware of their own rights and responsibilities.
ESPA has been pivotal in our understanding and strengthening of human rights principles and developing standard operating procedures in conservation law enforcement, not only providing the immediate need in training to the rangers but also in being an amazing sparring-partner helping us find the best fit for FPF in the specific human rights context of DRC.
I’m grateful for all the support ESPA’s management and instructors have provided us; it has not always been easy, the conditions have not always been favorable, but the fact that despite all we continue to feel like a team and know we can rely on each other is a great sign of a functioning partnership and it makes us strong.
In 2019 we chose ESPA to conduct ranger training in Peru and Cambodia – while considering several providers the decision to deploy instructors from ESPA was largely due to their strong focus and experience embedding human rights within every aspect of the curriculum. I was impressed by their ability to adapt the training to suit the needs of the students, in addition we had to adjust the dates for the training in Peru several times and appreciated ESPA’s flexibility, which highlights their understanding of the complexities of arranging and conducting trainings with partner organizations.
Following these two training periods, Conservation International has continued to work with ESPA to help develop some key ranger documents and training materials. ESPA have an experienced and effective group of instructors able to bring different skills including human rights experts, self-defense, police law enforcement as well as technical wildlife law enforcement knowledge.
I would without hesitation recommend ESPA to any organization wanting professional, thoughtful and intelligent support with wildlife law enforcement work.
ESPA was engaged in Okapi Wildlife Reserve during my tenure as Park Director (2018 to 2021) to deliver training and intelligence support as part of a large-scale multi-year strategy implementation covering law enforcement, site security, and professional development. ESPA provided exceptional training bespoke to the protected area and our operational needs. From recruitment and three months of intensive basic ranger training to specialist courses such as patrol medic training, quick reaction force, intelligence analysis, boatmanship and water crossing, and leadership courses, and from patrol mentoring to company command. ESPA increased the reserve Eco Guard force’s capability and capacity to a very high level, enabling the Eco Guards to meet the threat effectively and ensure the reserve wildlife and all local peoples remained as safe as possible in what was often a high-threat environment.
ESPA’s handpicked instructors from elite military backgrounds are some of the most remarkable individuals I have worked with. Using a hearts and minds approach, ESPA’s training programmes were adaptable to the Reserve’s unique needs at all levels, and the team went above and beyond to deliver outstanding training courses. They delivered training in three languages, demonstrated consistently outstanding professional attitudes, and guided recruits through a proven learning process where weaker students were given extra one-on-one coaching to bring them on.
