Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change marks World Ranger Day with Regional Meeting on Santa Maria

Aug. 1, 2023

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, marked this Monday, July 31, the World Day of the Park Ranger, with a Park Rangers Regional Meeting on the island of Santa Maria.

At the beginning of the meeting, Alonso Miguel stressed that “the Park Rangers of the Azores play a fundamental role in monitoring and preserving our natural heritage and are the first line of defence of the environmental quality of our islands, which is one of the main assets of the Region”, also stressing “the importance of their performance in the field of education and environmental awareness of the community, which is an absolutely fundamental aspect for a change of attitude and the adoption of environmentally sustainable habits and behaviours”.

The governor assumed that, for these reasons, “the Regional Government has been committed to improving the working conditions of these professionals, for example, with the acquisition of equipment and vehicles, but, above all, with the reinforcement of the park rangers' corps in the Region, to increase its capacity to act”.

“I recall that, at this moment, and as foreseen in the Program of the 13th Government of the Azores, the procedures for hiring 12 more staff to reinforce the Park Ranger Corps are underway”, he guaranteed.

The head of the Environment office stressed that “this Regional Meeting will take place over three days, including several initiatives, such as drone flight demonstrations, recently acquired for each of the nine Island Environment and Climate Change Services, in an investment of around 62 thousand euros, and which will also be available to the Park Rangers teams”.

“With this equipment, an increase in efficiency is guaranteed in carrying out inspection and surveillance actions, especially in places of difficult access, also making it possible, with precision technology, to collect high-quality images and videos, capable of generating three-dimensional and ortho mosaic models, thus allowing to monitor the changes that may occur in our natural territory”, also explained the person responsible for the Environment office in the Region.

According to Alonso Miguel, “visits to points of interest of the Geopark and the Paleopark of Santa Maria will also be promoted, as well as to the intervention areas of the various LIFE projects underway on the island, namely the LIFE IP AZORES NATURA, LIFE IP CLIMAZ and LIFE SNAILS projects”.

The last two days of the Regional Meeting are dedicated to first aid training in wild birds, with theoretical and practical components, “thus providing our Park Rangers with the knowledge to act, in a first approach, in situations of contact with injured animals”, concluded the Regional Secretary.

In this Regional Meeting, which takes place between July 31 and August 2, for the first time on Santa Maria island, 38 Park Rangers from all islands participate, as well as the Directors of the Environment and Climate Change Services and the Island Nature Parks, with training in first aid in wild birds given by biologist Fábia Azevedo and veterinarian María Casero, from RIAS - Centro de Recuperação e Investigação de Animais Selvagens.