The protected natural values of the southernmost Croatian county – 35 protected areas, 71 Natura 2000 sites, over 600 speleological objects, and one Ramsar site – are overseen by ranger Ivana Konjevod, a master’s degree graduate and aquaculture engineer. After professional training and working in the Expert Service of the Public Institution of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, she was employed as a ranger in 2019.
Why the ranger service should be a core activity of public institutions, how important the local population is in this profession, and how ranger Ivana handles the daily challenges at work, you can read about below.
The job is unpredictable, but exciting
When asked what her job looks like, Ivana emphasizes that unpredictability is the biggest challenge, but also what makes the job interesting. Her workday depends on weather conditions and human impact, and due to the large area of protected territories, she uses various means of transportation – from official vehicles to boats, drones, and digital tools like GIS.
– It’s impossible to prepare in advance for everything that a workday will bring, – Konjevod stresses.
And although she can always consult colleagues from other protected areas, our interviewee points out that it’s not the same because, despite the law describing one job description for rangers, in reality the job varies from area to area and has its own specific characteristics. Alongside supervision, monitoring, and reporting violations, some rangers perform additional tasks such as ticket sales, diving, or cleaning. At the end of the day, the ranger’s work primarily depends on the leadership of the public institution that plans and prepares the duty schedule.
‘You never know how someone will react out in the field’
Rangers must have a solid knowledge of laws because their jurisdiction overlaps with institutions like Croatian Forests and Croatian Waters. To effectively perform their work, good cooperation with all competent institutions and inspection bodies is essential.
Just as communication with authorities is important, communication with stakeholders is equally significant. Ivana highlights the importance of calm and rational communication:
– In the field, you never know how someone will react when you approach them. Some immediately back down after a warning, while others don’t take me seriously. Sometimes I even face threats. The first contact is crucial, as are effective communication skills, – explains Konjevod, who most often encounters illegal construction in the Natura 2000 ecological network areas during her supervision.
She points out there are also many unauthorized activities for which it is very difficult to determine the perpetrator. For example, in special ornithological reserves, there are illegally built wooden structures near which hunting cartridges and bait are found, but it is impossible to establish who built them and for what purpose. There is a strong suspicion they are used for poaching.
My first criminal complaint was ten pages long!
In addition to illegal construction and poaching, Ivana also coordinates the remediation of damage caused by reed fires in the Neretva valley, which destroy biodiversity and the landscape of the area. One of her first criminal complaints concerned a fire that burned 136 hectares of the reserve.
– The complaint was ten pages long, with extensive documentation. Nowadays we have legal assistance, so the process goes faster, – she says.
Laws exist, but penalties are mild. Along with stricter sanctions, Ivana advocates for education and raising awareness about the harmful consequences of human actions.
High awareness in Dubrovnik-Neretva County
Although many are not familiar with this profession, in Dubrovnik-Neretva County the local population knows and supports rangers well.
– We receive the most reports from local people, which means they trust us and recognize us as an institution. Fishermen, hunters, and residents are our eyes and ears in the field.
Ivana actively works on raising awareness among children by conducting educational sessions on protected species and environmental issues.
– We most often address problems specific to certain areas, like reed fires in the Neretva valley. In Konavle and the Dubrovnik coastal region, the focus is on protecting the river turtle, which lives only in our county. Working with children is one of the most rewarding parts of my job – when I see how they understand the importance of nature and pass that knowledge on to their parents, I know my work is making a real impact, – Ivana says with a smile.
Ranger service as the foundation of public institutions
In her opinion, the ranger service should be the foundation of public institutions and the protection and preservation of natural values.
– I believe more investment should be made in our service because we are the first on the ground and the first line in nature conservation and protection. I think it’s necessary to strengthen the capacities of the ranger service and continuously conduct training to improve supervision and response. If the natural values for which an area was declared protected are destroyed or disappear, nature protection loses its meaning for all of us, – our interviewee warns.
Sunce also believes that rangers need greater authority, opportunities for systematic education and training, and increased capacities. Sunce worked on this topic within the Interreg Italy-Croatia cross-border cooperation program, EFFICIENTN2K. The main goal of the project was to improve monitoring and enforcement in protected coastal and marine Natura 2000 areas in Italy and Croatia, ensuring the preservation of biodiversity and protection of these key natural resources. With this in mind, through analysis of the legal and institutional framework and joint field actions in cooperation with the Italian Municipality of Ugento, we produced recommendations for more effective monitoring and enforcement of protection in marine protected areas, which we hope will strengthen and improve ranger work in the future. This service is not easy at all, yet it plays a key role in protecting plant and animal life, ensuring biodiversity conservation, free ecosystem services, and ecosystem balance.
Despite the importance of their role, there are fewer than 200 nature rangers in Croatia, with women being very underrepresented. More investment in this profession is needed to ensure protected areas are properly monitored and preserved for future generations.
Photographs: Public Institution of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
