E-News August: EUROPARC sponsors place at this year's International Ranger Conference in Bolivia.

This Year the EUROPARC Federation is working more closely with the International Rangers Federation (IRF) to honor the Memorandum of Agreement between the two organisations. One of the ways they are working together is through EUROPARC’s sponsorship of one place for a Ranger to the International Ranger Congress in Bolivia this year. Tunde Lundai, Deputy Chief Ranger of the Kiskunság National Park (HU) was the successful applicant for this sponsored place. EUROPARC spoke to her about her expectations for the congress, her job as a ranger and much more…
Welcome Tünde! Congratulations on your successful application for the sponsored EUROPARC place at the International Ranger Conference.

1. What does the possibility to attend the conference mean to you and the Kiskunság National Park?
I am proud to represent the Kiskunság National Park Directorate and the Hungarian Rangers Service at a World Congress and I will do my best to fill this role. I think it is very important to represent and introduce the protected areas, the values, and the nature conservation work of Kiskunság National Park Directorate.

2. What are you looking forward to at the conference and what do you hope to gain from attending?
The primary goal of participation is to represent and introduce the well organised operation, work and achievements of the Hungarian Ranger Service. The Kiskunság National Park Directorate is a good example for this work within Hungary and I would like to show this example to the participants.
Another goal is to share the knowledge and experience gained at the Congress with my colleagues in Hungary and in Kiskunság.

3. You are the deputy chief ranger for Kiskunság National Park and manage a team of 6 other rangers as well as the parks volunteers. Tell us something about your role in the park (tasks etc).
My daily tasks as the Deputy Chief Ranger of Kiskunság National Park directorate are the management of 6 rangers’ daily activities, who work in the Nature Conservation Region of the Sand Dunes. This region consists of 41 townships’ periphery, and there are 4 national park individual basic unit, 1 planned landscape protection area, 3 nature conservation areas, many Natura 2000 areas and ‘ex-lege’ protected areas (area protected by law). I started my ranger career at one of the 4 national park individual basic unit – Orgoványi meadows, and together with a new colleague, I am still working at this territory as a ranger.

I also manage the park’s volunteer and civil nature rangers’ work. Approximately 100 volunteers support the daily activities of rangers, keeping them informed about damages to nature, injured animals, occurrence of protected plants, etc.

In addition I management the supply of ranger uniform and am the main contact between IRF and Hungary.

4. How long have you been a ranger for and what made you want to/how did you become a ranger?
I have been a ranger since autumn 2000, almost nine years at the Kiskunság National Park. Since I was a child, loving and respecting the nature were always principles for me: seeing the sensitiveness of nature and protected nature values, the decrease of nature and the value of it to be protected. I thought and felt that I must do something about that, and must play an active role in Hungarian nature conservation. I got to know the work of rangers first as a student, then as a volunteer and nature conversation association member and felt that this would be the perfect job for me.

5. What do you enjoy about being a ranger?
I very much enjoy working closely relation with nature, finding the harmony with nature alongside with the daily tasks and challenges. I also enjoy seeing the results and success of any nature conversation task or activity - be it successful great bustard breeding, occurrence of a new protected plant, the daily problem of prevention of damages caused by field sports, informing people and children about the protected nature values in their environment…and I could go on and on and on…

6. If you could suddenly speak to all European protected areas what would you want to know from them and share with them?
It would be great to know everything about Europe’s protected areas, their protected values, the jeopardizing factors and what could be done for a more efficient protection. It would be good to see and understand the whole process of nature conservation and where it leads to.
I would share my experiences gained in the last 9 years of my work, even if it is not such a long period. I would ask what else could be done for a more efficient preservation of protected nature values and whether the nature protection processes are going into the right direction.

7. If you could work in the same position in any protected area in Europe where would it be and why?
This is a difficult question. If it was my choice, I would choose a country where the nature protection is less organized compared to Hungary, and the protected nature values are exposed to bigger danger. The northern countries and Transylvania are very close to me.