The students of the Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Bayreuth were recently treated to a very special lecture: as a thank you to our Ranger Leaf sponsor Franz Moder from Opus (centre in photo above), our board member and former chief ranger of Bavarian National Park, Michael Großmann, spoke about the work of rangers around the world and that of ERF for rangers on our continent. ERF Secretary Maria Gurscaia then introduced the idea of European Ranger Congresses and the upcoming 6th ERC in Romania with its main theme: the involvement of locals in conservation and the protection of Europe’s biodiversity hotspots.
Franz Moder leads a seminar for students on Master’s degree courses such as geoecology, global climate ecology and landscape ecology. As a lecturer at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and owner of the nature conservation and landscape planning office OPUS, he welcomed this lecture offer from Michael Großmann, ERF Finance Officer, accompanied by Maria Gurscaia, ERF Secretary, as a great inspiration for his students:
“With all the influences on conservation around the world and the decline in financial support from national governments and large international programmes, the private initiatives that support the good movements from the grassroots and see the big impact of today’s small steps can be the foundation for needed change and for inspired people who are not ready to stop.”
In return, the presentation was intended to express the ERF’s deep appreciation for the great support provided by Franz Moder and his OPUS office: This year, he supported a ranger from Malta and two volunteer rangers from Moldova to attend the 6th European Ranger Congress by covering their participation fees. “As the Ranger Leaf programme is not just a sponsorship programme, but also a cooperation programme, this lesson and the open discussion with the students is a kind of thank you and support for our Ranger Leaf partner,” Maria Gurscaia explains.
“Supporting rangers in international networking becomes more and more important”
Asked why he decided to support ERF several times in its work for rangers, Franz Moder says: “Because, given the worldwide circumstances described before, it becomes more and more important to support rangers and other conservation specialists in international networking, knowledge exchange and research.”
YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT ERF’S WORK FOR RANGERS?
There are several possibilities to help us supporting, upskilling and networking the rangers of our continent. For an ongoing cooperation and mutual support, we advise you to become one of our Ranger Leaf sponsors. For donations enabling rangers who couldn’t afford by own means to join the next European Ranger Congress (ERC), check out our ERC Crowdfunding Campaign.