The Game Rangers Association of Africa is calling on governments, funders and conservation groups to lend more support to wildlife rangers across the continent following an increasing number of attacks involving armed militia groups. Game rangers in many parts of Africa say they are facing some of the most challenging times in decades, partly due to the increasing presence of armed militias, along with illegal miners, loggers and bushmeat hunters. The Game Rangers Association of Africa says more than 30 protected wildlife areas across the continent are now "severely affected" as armed extremists, separatists and organised crime groups expand in scale and sophistication. The call to provide more support to rangers follows a series of attacks on rangers in northern Mozambique, South Sudan, northern Nigeria, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the W-Arly-Pendjari park in Benin. "In the wake of these attacks, many areas are experiencing sharp increases in illegal mining, logging and bushmeat poaching, as insecurity takes hold. Africa’s protected areas harbour valuable natural resources that are increasingly targeted to fund, feed and shelter extremist, militia and criminal networks, driving widespread ecological degradation and deepening insecurity for both nature and the communities who depend on it," the association said on 23 January.