Photo by Mull and Iona Ranger Service
About Scotland's Rangers
Our Rangers work for about 100 employers including local and national organisations in the public sector (local authorities, National Parks, Historic Environment Scotland, the Crown Estates), and by non-governmental bodies (eg The National Trust for Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust, the John Muir Trust), private landowners (estates and windfarms) and few local community groups. There are also a growing number of independent Rangers.
Though they have different employers and work in different environments (from mountain ranges to small islands and from city parks to forests and agricultural land), they have common aims: to connect people with places, to encourage more people from all backgrounds to enjoy Scotland’s outdoors responsibly, and to take the action needed to address biodiversity loss and climate change. You can find out more about the aims, roles and responsibilities of Rangers here and Scotland’s Rangers, published by SCRA.
Rangers often work together at local level on joint projects and at national level through such activities as the SCRA biennial conference (the Ranger Rendezvous) and other training opportunities, and through contributing to SCRA’s social media. They are also encouraged to contribute to annual reporting, co-ordinated by NatureScot, that shows the sum of their achievements – the most recent report is here.
Many Rangers wear the national badge - it is a symbol of their professionalism and signals that they are part of a national network. The badge was introduced 50 years ago, has stood the test of time and is well recognised by the public. It is the only Ranger badge in the World to include people. Guidance on the use of the national badge is here. We recognise that some employers require their Rangers to wear their organisation's logo and, where this is the case, we strongly advise that both badges are used on clothing and vehicles.
The Ranger Development Partnership is important to ensuring that the common purposes of Rangers and the advantages of working as a network are recognised by different employers and by Rangers themselves. The whole is more than the sum of the parts.
