At the World Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), the team of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park received the prestigious international award "Ranger Award 2025" – Rangers of the Year.
Ivan Rusev, Doctor of Biological Sciences and Head of the Research Department of the Tuzly Estuaries National Park, writes about this.
This award was established by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, the International Ranger Federation (IRF) and the Global Wildlife Conservation Foundation. It honors those who selflessly protect wildlife around the world.
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This year, IUCN honored 13 winners – six individual winners and seven teams from different countries, including the Ukrainian team of Tuzly Estuaries. They were recognized for their consistent ten-year work to preserve the unique estuarine ecosystems of southern Ukraine, fight poaching, and protect biodiversity even in times of war.
"Rangers are the guardians of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet. They remind us that this is a common mission of all humanity," said IUCN Director-General Dr. Gretel Aguilar.
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Iryna Vykhrystiuk, the national park's chief ranger and head of the nature reserve fund's protection service, received a personal award on behalf of the team. According to Rusev, she is known for her brave actions, as she stopped armed poachers and even a tractor that was plowing up the Tarutino steppe, risking her own life.
Photo: facebook.com
So far, the war has claimed the lives of two park rangers, and several of their colleagues are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"This award is not only about our work. It is about Ukraine, which, even during the war, is fighting not only for freedom but also for the life of nature itself," the national park team noted.
We would like to remind EcoPolitic readers that the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park is gradually restoring its ecosystem after the large-scale fires that occurred on August 23-24.
According to Ivan Rusev, the ecosystem of the park is gradually coming back to life, although it has suffered large-scale losses. Reed beds were the first to recover on the territory of Tuzly Estuaries.
