TRAVERSE 47
A little over ten years ago , a United States National Park ranger was based in East Asia , volunteering with the Mongol Ecology Centre . Robert McIntosh was helping along the Russian border , near the famous Lake Hövsgöl . McIntosh was astounded when he realised that the local rangers were hamstrung by equipment that so often failed , motorcycles that could not take rangers to areas of potential problem , where poachers were often killing wildlife for personal greed .
This revelation prompted a thought , McIntosh discussed plans with fellow American , Wesley Thornberry , and founder of the Mongol Ecology Centre , Ono Batkhuu . Together they formulated a simple plan to supply , at first , a single motorcycle to rangers on the Mongolian steppe . And with that Rally For Rangers was born .
The initial plan , in 2014 , seemed ambitious , a plan that required enlisting fifteen riders who would each purchase a bike , ride it sixteen hundred kilometres across Mongolia to have it delivered to rangers who desperately needed it more than the foreign riders .
That first rally was a proving ground for what could be achieved . Of the fifteen bikes only six were delivered with the riders still aboard , the others were all in the back of a support truck , their riders stricken by the conditions , mud , sand , and weather . Broken bones and bruised bodies , yet the aim was achieved , and the rangers had their bikes to protect this unspoilt and sacred wilderness . It gave the visiting riders an opportunity to see firsthand what the rangers were up against .
“ Yeah the riding can be tough at times ,” explained Steven Croft , an Australian who has completed two Mongol Rally For Rangers . “ We had a few injuries and
Pics : Eric Daft / Free Range Film
TRAVERSE 47