Salakpra Aug 2008
After the tree planting campaign at the Khao Yai Park I go straight on to Salakpra, where we will be planting 10,000 trees for wild elephants. This project too is well prepared. Here we experiment to find out where seeds grow better: in between bamboo or on a clear patch. Six fields have been enclosed, and 3,000 sprigs were labeled to monitor their growth. We intend to plant 10,000 trees here in one day, with about 80 volunteers.
The previous day the land has been prepared and six test areas enclosed. A herd of wild elephants had spent the night on our planting ground. They had broken through the enclosure, but were careful not to step into the holes. Not a single bamboo stick has been thrown over.
They left a lot of elephant dung, which we can use as manure. Let’s hope they’ll be as carefull after the trees have been planted. And let’s hope they realise humans sometimes do something good for the forrest! Since the forrest is still being used for illegal logging and other purposes.
I adress the team and then we move into the woods. It is an impressive feeling to walk among all this incredibly high bamboo. The wind is blowing, and makes the bamboo creak all over. A village elder tells me about the conflict between his village and the elephants. Every day around six o’clock a herd comes into the village to eat off the plantations. The farmers are angry and are enclosing everything with electric fencing. Often they draw off electricity from the main lines, causing the power to be too high. Two days ago a wild elephant was electrocuted. The village elder asks us to sponsor the electric fencing to make sure it would at least be under supervision. I explain to him that we are in favour of a different strategy, that people and elephants can live together in harmony, and that elephants come to the village for a reason. I present him with another idea: We could build an observation post where researchers as well as tourists could stay. In this way they can find out more about the elephants, all kinds of activities could be organised, additional food for the elephants could be grown, and all proceeds could be a compensation for the farmers. The village elder is immediately enthousiastic and invites me to come to his village.
We cannot do everything at once. First, let’s plant some trees and start on the elephant island in the Isaan. I am planting like crazy, because I really want us to get to 10,000. We don’t make it; we end up on 6,000 trees. The rest will be planted in the coming days.
In the truck I immediately fall asleep. I wake up queasy. For several hours I am completely out of it: throwing up, headage, dizziness. Heat stroke? Have I thrown myself onto the treeplanting too much? Nearly 40,000 trees for elephants have been planted this week at three locations!
