Wildlife rangers are being killed at a rate of nearly two a week, and it\u2019s a toll Prince William has said the world can no longer ignore. <\/p>\n
This is the reality laid bare in \u201cGuardians,\u201d a new six-part docuseries from the Prince of Wales which offers a rare insight into the dangerous work of rangers operating on the front lines of conservation across the globe. <\/p>\n
A champion of the environment for over a decade, William introduces each episode of the series, which aims to capture both the beauty of the natural world, and the brutality of the protectors\u2019 fight to defend it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been dying to do something around this sort of space for a while,\u201d William said after making an unexpected appearance at a screening in London on Tuesday. \u201cThis one is particularly special to me, because I\u2019ve got lots of friends and people I\u2019ve met over the years on my trips and going abroad who are living this life on a daily basis.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rangers make huge sacrifices and take incredible risks as nature\u2019s front line by standing between poachers and numerous endangered species. They endure similar ordeals to soldiers in combat, routinely facing death, injury, or torture from poachers, and the animals they protect can kill them too. <\/p>\n
William, 42, who founded United for Wildlife through his Royal Foundation in 2013 to combat illegal wildlife trade, said the series was shaped by firsthand accounts from rangers he\u2019s met and the \u201cvital yet unseen\u201d work they do to protect the planet. <\/p>\n
They\u2019re \u201cunsung heroes,\u201d William told the audience. \u201cI like to see the ranger as the glue between the human world we live in and the natural world.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chris Galliers, chair of the International Ranger Federation, echoed William, describing rangers as playing an \u201cindispensable role in securing and maintaining the health of our planet.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough often under resourced and supported, their tireless work secures our natural and cultural heritage and the stability of global economies, proving that environmental protection is deeply interconnected with human survival,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The series follows stories from rangers working in the Central African Republic, the Indian Himalayas, Mexico\u2019s Sea of Cortez, South Africa\u2019s Kruger National Park, Sri Lanka, and the Caru Indigenous land in Brazil. <\/p>\n
William has spent years advocating for rangers and conservation teams. He has witnessed the risks firsthand, and has met those who patrol some of the world\u2019s most volatile environments, where many have lost their lives while safeguarding nature. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is now one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet,\u201d William said. \u201cAnd really it shouldn\u2019t be. Protecting the natural world, it shouldn\u2019t be that dangerous.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point,\u201d he added, \u201cwe have to say enough\u2019s enough.\u201d <\/p>\n
William also reflected on the power of documentary storytelling, citing David Attenborough as a \u201cbig inspiration\u201d during his childhood. The renowned veteran broadcaster\u2019s ability to bring \u201cwonderful parts of the world\u201d into people\u2019s homes is something \u201cGuardians\u201d also strives for, the heir to the British throne said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAny future we want from the natural world, has to come from the ranger community being valued, respected, seen,\u201d William continued. \u201cWe value them, we care for them, and we hope that momentum builds, and that people support them.\u201d <\/p>\n
The series launches just weeks after William paid tribute to two rangers who were killed and another who was severely injured in an attack in Mozambique, which he described as \u201cyet another brutal reminder of the immense sacrifices made by those protecting our natural world.\u201d <\/p>\n
In November, William announced a new life insurance initiative for rangers across Africa. The five-year financial package, funded in part by his foundation, will benefit 10,000 rangers, giving them access to health and life insurance cover, as well as opportunities for training and development. <\/p>\n
The digital series, launched by United for Wildlife and co-produced with award-winning studio ZANDLAND, will premiere globally on BBC Earth\u2019s YouTube and social channels on Friday with episodes released weekly. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wildlife rangers are being killed at a rate of nearly two a week, and it\u2019s a toll Prince William has said the world can no longer ignore. This is the reality laid bare in \u201cGuardians,\u201d a new six-part docuseries from the Prince of Wales which offers a rare insight into the dangerous work of rangers <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}