South Sudan Wildlife to retire veteran rangers, recruit new cadres

JUBA — The South Sudan Ministry of Wildlife Conservation on Monday announced plans to retire veteran wildlife rangers and recruit a new cadre of personnel to enhance its conservation efforts.

The decision is part of extensive reforms aimed at modernising wildlife management, improving field operations, and ensuring that ranger services are prepared to address current conservation challenges.

In an interview on Monday in Juba, Gen. Khamis Adieng Ding, Director General of the National Wildlife Service at the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation, stated that the retirement program will target veteran rangers who have served for many years, enabling them to resign with acknowledgement of their contributions.

“But as far as I am a security man, I don’t show my parents openly on the radio. But I have got a good number of rangers. Although now we have the challenges,” said Adieng.

Adieng said the recruitment drive seeks to bring in younger rangers with updated skills in wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching measures, and community engagement.

“Some are getting old. And we need to recruit. But because we are waiting for the pension scheme in our country. It is not yet installed by the government. So, we can screen the old ones to go,” he said.

He emphasised that the move is expected to improve the efficiency of wildlife management and reduce poaching incidents.

“We have got a lot of females who are not helpful. So, we need to screen all those guys. And then later on, announce or advertise for the recruitment of strong guys. Strong ladies, strong guys.”

He stated that the new legal frameworks signed into law last week by President Salva Kiir are intended to promote community participation and the shared benefits obtained from wildlife resources.

“I am sure we have also captured a lot of things to be integrated into this law, like the community conservatives. Because we believe community is not the stakeholders,” said Adieng.

He said the law seeks to replace older statutes with a more inclusive framework that recognises the rights and roles of people living around protected areas and wildlife habitats.

“But communities are the owners of the resources, so they should benefit from this. So, it is an article, a new article in the law. We talk about the community conservatives, whereby the community will be benefiting directly. And actually, many of the resources are themselves in that law.”