In Zambia’s game management areas and national parks, rangers walk further and face harsher conditions than most of us can imagine. Patrols stretch 20, 30, sometimes even 40 kilometres a day. They carry heavy gear across thorny bush, rocky hills, and floodplains, often with limited water. In this line of work, a good pair of boots can really make a difference.
“These boots carry me through the bush every day: through the mud, the thorns, the heat. They’re more than gear; they’re part of the mission to protect this land and everything that lives in it,” says Kennedy Mwape, Senior Wildlife Ranger in Kafue South.
Jim Green is proud to support the rangers of Game Rangers International (GRI), a Zambian NGO founded in 2008 to protect wildlife and wild spaces by empowering both rangers and local communities. What began as a small elephant rescue project has grown into a multidisciplinary organisation with three interconnected programmes: Wildlife Rescue, Resource Protection, and Community Outreach. Together, these pillars form a cycle of care: deterring illegal activity, rescuing and reintegrating wildlife, and tackling the root causes of conflict by supporting people.
The pressures faced by these areas are intense. Zambia’s buffer zones, or Game Management Areas (GMAs), face encroachment, illegal settlements, charcoal production, and poaching. GRI tackles these issues through law enforcement support, confiscating illegal timber and charcoal, and helping mark boundaries to prevent disputes. Yet they know true change comes from empowerment, offering alternative livelihoods and building communities that see conservation as their heritage.
The work is physically and mentally demanding. Rangers set out at dawn, tracking poachers, removing snares, or monitoring elephants. They face long days in extreme heat, dangerous wildlife encounters, and the ever-present threat of armed poachers. “Jim Green boots are perfect for the terrain,” says ranger Nalishebo. “They help us go the distance.”
Looking to the future, GRI is scaling up. In 2025, they’re launching Youth Clubs to inspire the next generation, supporting women’s groups with sustainable livelihoods, and expanding ranger welfare and intelligence-led patrols. At the heart of it all is localisation: more Zambian leadership, more ownership, and stronger resilience.
Rangers are more than protectors. They’re first responders, conservation educators, and community leaders. And with every step they take (in boots built to last), they’re safeguarding Zambia’s wildlife and wild places for generations to come. We salute them.
Cheers,
The Jim Green Team
Through our Boots for Rangers initiative, run in partnership with the Game Rangers Association of Africa, we donate one pair of boots to a ranger for every ten pairs sold from our Ranger range. These boots are now supporting conservation teams at sites across Africa, with over 7,000 pairs already on the ground.
