Revaluation of the career of Portuguese Park Rangers (Vigilante da Natureza)

 

To

Virginijus Sinkevičius

European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries

CC:

To

Ursula von der Leyen,

President of the European Comission

 

To

João Pedro Matos Fernandes

Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Portugal

 

 

Topic:  Revaluation of the career of Portuguese Park Rangers (Vigilante da Natureza)

 

 

The National Park Rangers Corps was created in 1975, as a Specialized Corps for the Preservation of the Environment and Nature Conservation, but this project was only materialized in 1987.

In 2008 Law No. 12-A / 2008 of 27 February was created, and since then the Portuguese Association of Park Rangers, referred as Associação Portuguesa de Guardas e Vigilantes da Natureza, has been asking the various governments to review the special career of Park Ranger.

This Portuguese Association expresses its indignation at the contempt and abandonment that the career of Park Ranger has suffered by successive governments since 1999, an abandonment that is manifested in non-compliance with Decree-Law No. 470/99, of 6 November, which remains to be regulated and implemented even in such trivial matters related to working conditions, such as uniform, means of communication, means of transport, professional training and training, use and possession of weapons, reduced number of staff and working hours. This abandonment has been aggravated by successive governments by allowing the revaluation of this career, imposed by Law 12.A / 2008, of 27 February to be postponed, leading to concern and discouragement for Park Rangers who manage, in the name of the Portuguese State, the sovereign function of defending classified natural heritage, water resources, spatial planning, the environment and nature conservation, and who feel they are not treated properly, so we ask that a specific diploma be published that revalue their professional function, and which halt the loss of established rights.

The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 will focus on building a Europe-wide network of protected areas at land and sea level; in concrete commitments to restore degraded systems and rehabilitate biological diversity, but all this will only be possible with a serious investment in the National Park Ranger Corps, because these professionals are the effective guarantor of the safeguarding of Nature.

The role of Park Rangers is essential for the recovery and protection of indigenous forests, soils and wetlands, which are essential factors in achieving the mitigation of climate change. They protect the Protected Areas (National Park, Natural Parks, Natural Reserves and Classified Sites), National Woods, Forests and the Natura 2000 Network, helping unequivocally to conserve biodiversity. In fact, the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems, two of the greatest threats that humanity faces in the next decade, will only be avoided with the awareness of the people to this reality and with an evident bet on the National Park Rangers.

The Portuguese Park Rangers intend to alert the European Commissioner, to the urgency and the pertinence of regularizing the precarious situation in which they find themselves, with loss of efficiency and authority, as well as the existing emergency for the definition of a hierarchical organizational model, national, responsible, motivated, valued, qualified and equipped to comply with legislation, for the inspection, surveillance, monitoring and safeguarding of natural resources.

We hope that the Honourable European Commissioner will promote the correction of these shortcomings to the Portuguese Government and that the Park Ranger career will be reformulated and upgraded, with the publication of the specific diplomas missing and the definition of rules of unique and unambiguous implementation for all Ministry of Environment services.

We do everything and will continue to do for the sustainable future of our profession and in ethical and uncompromising defence of the natural values we have sworn to defend and preserve.

The Associação Portuguesa de Guardas e Vigilantes da Natureza considers that with the creation of dignified and functional organizational and working conditions, as well as the effective framing of the functions of Park Rangers for purposes of inspection, surveillance and monitoring emanating from the legislation in force and oriented by criteria of planning and efficiency they will allow the effective protection of the environment in Portugal.

Bearing in your highest consideration everything that we have narrated previously, we ask you, Commissioner, to lead the adoption of effective measures so that the review of the Park Ranger’s career takes effect.

We present Your Excellency, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries of the European Commission, Virginijus Sinkevičius, our highest consideration.

Sintra, 24th of September 0f 2020

The President of the Associação Portuguesa de Guardas e Vigilantes da Natureza

Francisco Correia