Lives on the line for conservation

By Gavin Gatenby
23 July 2007

The Thin Green Line: international ranger documentary
Region-free DVD, 82 min.
Produced and directed by Sean Willmore
Music by: John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd, Blue Kong Brown, Cousin Leonard, TOV.

One upon a time – in evolutionary terms, only the blink of an eye ago – wild nature covered our planet and the human–engineered landscapes of cities and farms were insignificant patches.

Now, of course, the opposite is true. Wild ecosystems are rare, typically small, often fragile ‘islands’ of habitat. Hence the need for national parks, nature reserves, laws, management plans and rangers.

The Thin Green Line is the story of the rangers whose difficult, often dangerous, even at times fatal, job it is to protect these precious fragments; to conserve the myriad plants and animals bequeathed to us by the processes of evolution.

It’s the brainchild of an Australian ranger, Sean Willmore. Fired up by the men and women he met at the 2003 International Park Rangers Congress, he sold his car, remortgaged his house (three times), and spent a year travelling the world to bring us their stories.

For decades, TV crime docos and cop dramas have endlessly recycled the minutia of the regulation of human society but no such body of work has popularised practical nature conservation. Nature itself has been popularised through excellent wildlife docos, but these are usually devoid of humans, and wild animals and ecosystems are typically treated as if they existed without the need for guardians and boundary riders. The Thin Green Line brings the need for custodianship of the natural world back into the frame.

The dedication, courage and resourcefulness of the rangers who struggle against powerful vested interests, corruption, political indifference and public ignorance shine through the documentary. Willmore takes us to the front lines of conservation. We go on patrol in a poacher-beseiged Ugandan national park where the rangers don’t leave the office an assault rifle, follow horseback patrols in Chile and Argentina, survive an elephant charge in South Africa, rescue an injured trekker in the Rockies, witness an Indian ranger’s gentle struggle to convince impoverished villagers they should respect the park, face antagonistic fisherman in the Galapagos Islands.

In a guerrilla marketing exercise, The Thin Green Line is to be launched with simultaneous premieres on July 31 – International Rangers’ Day – with, so far, over 130 screenings in places as diverse as Iceland, Nigeria and Romania (and counting, with a target of 50 countries and 500 screenings). The main event is a Green Carpet gala in Melbourne featuring six of the Australian bands that contributed to the great soundtrack and an appearance by a young indigenous ranger from Arnhem Land.

A hundred per cent of the profits raised by the world premiere, sales of the documentary, and sponsorships will be returned to support the work of rangers. A major beneficiary will be The International Ranger Dependency Fund, which supports the families of rangers killed in the line of duty.

You are invited to be part of this event by hosting your own premiere for friends, family and workmates on July 31. Details at www.thingreenline.info. Do it, for the sake of the planet.