Elephants are critically important for the ecosystem, but they can be difficult neighbors. 

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) is a term used to describe the difficult, & often violent, situations that can arise when humans and elephants live in close proximity.  

In Kanchanaburi Thailand, there is a wildlife Sanctuary called Salakphra - the oldest Sanctuary in the whole country! In the last few years, there have been significant behavioral and geographical changes around the Sanctuary, such as highway expansion, changing elephant foraging range, and the construction of a concrete fence to keep elephants at bay.

As such, there have been increased elephant-car collisions, crop-raiding of farmland, and elephants venturing into villages that previously did not experience many HEC incidents.

These conflicts erode local tolerance of elephants, impact the conservation of this critical keystone species, and severely affect the lives and livelihoods of those living in HEC zones.

We are planning a series of workshops with our collaborators at OurLand Thailand (ourlandthailand.org) and Human Elephant Voices (humanelephantvoices.org). 

This series of workshops aims to teach community members how to: 

• safely interact with wild elephants
• share techniques in elephant guarding
• explore other pressing HEC challenges facing the communities on the front line of HEC.

A facilitated discussion with the community members impacted by these changes, that assesses their current needs and perspectives, is a critical and foundational step towards mitigating HEC and achieving human-elephant coexistence in this area.

Long-term coexistence will need a multitude of integrated mitigation strategies, and we see this as an opportunity to support sustainable human-elephant coexistence in these communities. 

Our goal for this fundraiser aims to cover the costs of these workshops with any additional funding going to provide seed funding for community-based coexistence projects that may stem from this workshop.

Thank you for your support!

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Email us at [email protected] for bank transfer information and alternative donation methods

Learn more about HEC and OurLand at www.ourlandthailand.org and in the video below

Follow OurWorld and OurLand on social media to learn more, get updates, and follow the coexistence journey
@ourworld4all
@ourlandthailand

Cover photo credit: Neil Challis

Elephant crossing sign photo credit: Wan Chai

Video credit: OurLand Thailand

www.ourworldforall.org