August was soon upon us and I was particularly excited to be headed back to Brunei and the Jungle Warfare Division where I had been the Senior Military Instructor (SMI) 2001 to 2003.
My main aim, apart from a nostalgic trip was to observe the Operational Tracking Instructors Course and to give a series of briefings regarding the way we have evolved tracking tactics and training for anti-poaching units in Africa. Some of the key changes were taken on board with favourable results and may well now become amendments to the military tracking pamphlet.
Whilst I was swanning in Brunei, B5P trainers were responsible for the delivery of a Basic Field Ranger (BFR) course in Malawi from 5th August to 13th October. I attended for the final month to deliver the tracking phases. In total 44 candidates graduated as rangers including our Level 3 Tracking qualification. 5 Malawi ranger trainers also benefitted, gaining vital experience in running these courses.
Meanwhile a lot of work has been going on in the background planning for two projects as we look forward into 2025:
We’ve recognised the real need for trainer/manager development and assessment for those wishing to break into the anti-poaching/conservation arena. We need the next generation of trainers for B5P but outside of that there is a constant need for full time trainers and managers within the parks. The issue is that it is difficult to break into the market unless you have experience, and from the park’s point of view, it’s difficult to identify the right individuals, and many turn out to be unsuitable for various reasons, which wastes time and funds.
Our plan is to address this, with a series of briefings followed by practical training and assessments, and those who have contacted us expressing an interest in work will be contacted in the new year.
Our even bigger project focusses on Java and a desperate situation regarding the last remaining Javan rhino’s barely surviving on a tiny peninsula.
They are getting hammered by poachers supplying their tiny horns into the Chinese market. Recent poacher and supplier arrests have indicated at least 26 rhinos have been slaughtered since 2019. There are perhaps 40 left, no-one is quite sure, but there’s no trained and dedicated anti-poaching rangers to protect them. A short hop away in Sumatra, it’s the same thing - the last few Sumatran rhino’s and beautiful tigers are on the brink of extinction. These are the last of these iconic species, once widespread throughout Asia and they are about to disappear - on our watch.
Our aim is to get some serious focus and to generate the necessary funding to do what we can at this 11th hour.
This is no small task…
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