The impact of COVID made everyone’s daily lives extremely hard last year. The rangers at the Stepnoi Reserve in Russia were determined, however, to continue to carry out their critical work, protecting the beautiful and rare biodiversity of the region. We were so pleased that with essential emergency relief funds provided by WCN we could support their ongoing work. These funds allowed them to purchase essential equipment, and to step up their patrols at a time when poaching pressures were mounting. Their new high-powered binoculars, telephoto zoom lenses, and round the clock video surveillance equipment have all helped to ensure that there were zero instances of saiga poaching in the Reserve in 2020.
