A nature protected area is a geographically protected area that includes the land and/or sea part of the area, and the primary purpose is the protection, preservation and maintenance of nature or biological diversity. Protected areas represent natural values that, due to their preservation, uniqueness and representativeness, have a special importance for the Republic of Croatia and are therefore protected by law. Protection is organized and implemented through the activities of public institutions whose task is to protect, maintain and promote protected areas. Nature protection is one of the most complex activities in protected areas, so monitoring the aforementioned values is one of the most important activities in protected areas. According to the law on nature protection, direct supervision in protected areas is carried out by the chief nature guard and nature guards. Nature guards perform their duty in a special internal organizational unit, the nature guard service. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the role of nature conservationists in the Republic of Croatia, and the purpose is to assess the contribution and challenges of nature conservationists in the preservation of protected areas. The survey will collect data and analyze the total number and structure of nature guards known as rangers in the Republic of Croatia, data on age, gender, education, working conditions, equipment, area of work, area of operation and other data related to the work of nature guards in the Republic of Croatia, and make an analysis of. collected data in order to assess the contribution to the conservation of nature protected areas, and recognize the challenges in this regard.