European Ranger Congress

Mutual support and exchange among rangers in Europe and beyond, as well as the creation of networks: This was and is the aim of all European Ranger Congresses and their predecessors. The expertise of individual rangers should be widely disseminated within the ranger community.

Since recent editions, the ERF congresses have had a thematic focus that runs through the plenary lectures and workshops: by and for rangers and by recognised experts for rangers. While the main theme of the 5th ERC was ‘Biodiversity on the Edge - Working Strategies for Rangers in a rapidly changing World’, the 6th ERC will be held under the motto:

Rangers – the Voice of Nature: Building a bridge between Local Communities and Nature Conservation

With good reason. Whether we look at the central goal 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, according to which 30 per cent of the planet's marine and terrestrial areas are to be protected by 2030, or the many other global nature conservation goals: They can only be realised with the acceptance of the local population that is directly affected by them. Involving them, looking for ways on an equal footing that work for people and nature and thus help to alleviate the major natural crises in the long term: This is becoming increasingly important for rangers throughout Europe in their daily work.

We are therefore looking forward to the final declaration drawn up with all congress participants, as has been established since the most recent congress in Albania with the Tirana Commitment. It serves as a road map for the specific ways in which the ERF and the national ranger organisations should support Europe's rangers in the coming years.

Before the ERF was founded, there were already European Ranger Congresses organised, firstly under the title European Ranger Training Seminar. At that time they were organised by the IRF, under the leadership of the Europe Representative, and gradually established themselves as the European Ranger Congress, organised by the ERF and national cooperation partners. An overview:

2007

1st European Ranger Training Seminar in Retezat National Park, Romania

2008

2nd European Ranger Training Seminar in Kiskunság National Park, Hungary

2014

3rd European Ranger Training Seminar in Brijuni National Park, Croatia

2017

4th European Ranger Congress in Litomerice, Czech Republic

2022

5th European Ranger Congress in Tirana, Albania

2025

6th European Ranger Congress in Brașov County, Romania