Rangers are the frontline workers of conservation, but their roles and impact remain invisible to most people.
The Marine team approached me about creating a series of videos leading up to a fundraiser on World Ranger Day. The challenge was how to convey the varied work of rangers, the urgency of their work, and all with a limited budget and resources.
I hosted a project-kickoff meeting with the Marine team to better understand their goals and desired outcomes. On my recommendation, we decided to spotlight a few key individual stories, as these have proven to have better traction with our audience and a greater impact on bringing in donations.
Our narrative told the stories of rangers in Gabon and Ecuador, the areas they protect, and what a day in their life is like. However this plan was interrupted by travel restrictions in place due to COVID-19. I pivoted and instead took stock of our existing footage, and discovered we had a great story about Gabon’s rangers in action that had not been previously developed. Additionally we were able to request videos of the rangers filmed on their phones, which I utilized to create a short clip on how Galapagos rangers are still working on the ground despite the challenges of COVID-19, and a final celebratory video featuring a montage of rangers from all over the world.
The videos received 14,000+ views on various social media channels and contributed to raising $20,000 through the World Ranger Day campaign. Additionally the video featuring Gabon’s rangers was broadcast in the country through a Gabonese TV channel.