She is ‘Mujer Rural’ 2025: Ingrid Guerrero Klein, president of the Spanish Ranger Association AEAFMA, was awarded this year’s prize for rural women by the Costa del Sol Axarquía Association of Municipalities. The award recognises not only her role model status for women in rural areas, but also the key role that women play in environmental protection.
On International Day of Women in Rural Areas, promoted by the UN, the municipal association in southern Spain celebrated Ingrid Guerrero Klein in particular for her dedication to nature protection in the Axarquía region as a ranger. At the same time, the award also recognises her commitment to rural areas and their communities.
Like so many rural regions, her district is affected by rural exodus. As a result, jobs are increasingly shifting to urban areas and infrastructure in rural areas is becoming outdated. This has corresponding consequences for the goals of International Rural Women’s Day: gender equality, social security for women, participation in decision-making processes and access to digitalisation.
In her address of gratitude, Ingrid therefore particularly highlighted the opportunities available to young women in nature conservation.
“Women play a key role in environmental protection: it is possible to be a woman and protect the environment at the same time; it is a transformative force.”
And protecting the environment can only be done on the ground and mainly in rural areas. Just as she does as a ranger: by being on site and equally active in local communities to build a strong network for nature conservation.
Women’s work: essential for nature protection and for rural communities
As the AEAFMA states: “Highlighting the rural environment and the work of women as commissioners is essential for nature protection and the preservation of the rural environment. Therefore, the award recognises the work of the president of AEAFMA both in her personal and professional life, as she devotes a large part of her time to preserving the environment known as Axarquía, in addition to her work as ranger.”
Ingrid described what it means to her personally to work as a woman for environmental protection in a rural area as follows:
Being a Woman in the Rural and Environmental Field
Being a woman in such a deeply vocational profession is an immensely rewarding experience — but it’s not without its challenges. Throughout history, women have always been the caretakers of life in all its forms. We carry within us a natural connection to the environment — a deep sense of responsibility and affection for the world around us.
We protect our forests as if they were our own children, growing and changing alongside them.
When the land suffers — when a wildfire destroys what we love — something inside us breaks too. We grieve that loss as we would for someone dear to us.
We bring empathy, sensitivity, and strong commitment to both our colleagues and the communities we serve. In our daily work, genuine bonds are formed — relationships that often feel like a chosen family, united by friendship and by a shared passion for protecting what gives us life: nature.
Women are present in every area of environmental work:
operating drones to support research and territorial protection, investigating wildfires, monitoring bird populations from great heights, and working in anti-poison units.
We are just as capable as anyone of mastering land, sea, and air — fully dedicating ourselves to every task: collecting samples, safeguarding protected areas, conducting wildlife surveys, managing hunting and fishing, detecting illegal construction, controlling pollution, and performing forestry work such as thinning, land management, and maintaining firebreaks, as well as preventing, fighting, and investigating wildfires.
We also play a key role in environmental education and awareness
— helping people understand what we do, inspiring respect for nature, and passing on the values that make life on Earth sustainable.
As I always say: “We take care of what we love.” And we women deeply love this land, this environment, and this profession that allows us to be a vital part of the balance of rural and natural life.
Ingrid Guerrero Klein