Salakpra June 2008
Salakpra is the first wildlife Sanctuary of Thailand (1965). About 174 wild elephants live here, their forests declining every day. Help is needed to restore the forest! Rangers, the Elephant Conservation Network and Bring the Elephant Home are planting 10,000 trees in Salakpra for the wild elephants. In the very heart of the protected area! On top of that, we are building a nursery to be able to continue planting trees next year. By doing this, the habitat of the wild elephants in Salakpra can be improved little by little!
Visit to the Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, 18th and 19th of June 2008 - For about ten years, the Elephant Conservation Network has been researching human-elephant conflicts in Salakpra, Kanchanaburi in western Thailand. ECN is working together with Forru, the reforestation department of the University of Chiang Mai. The project ECN wants to set up, will initially focus on research: Identification of the current species of trees; advising on species of trees needed; setting up timetables for the collection and cultivation of seeds; building nurseries with room for research and data analysis; schooling villagers in reforestation; and creating a network of people who want to get involved with solving human-elephant conflicts. An important project, in which we from Bring the Elephant Home certainly want to take part in the coming year. Immediate help is also needed: the rangers of the Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary are planting trees on a small scale. The forest has an urgent need for more diversity. Together with ECN and the rangers, we are working on an emergency plan to start planting during this rainy season. To create long term diversity, we will builda tree nursery in the sanctuary.
Salakpra is a Wildlife Sanctuary. In Thailand, it has a different legal position than National Parks like Khao Yai. Both are protected areas, but in a National Park, tourists have access. Therefore a National Park has more money coming in and is better known. In a Wildlife Sanctuary it is all about the animals, and no people, except for the rangers, ever enter. The ranger base is hidden deep inside the forest, in the heart of elephant territory. About 174 elephants live here. During the rainy season the forest looks lush and green, with plenty of food and water for the elephants. But the greater part of the forest consists of bamboo, which is hindering diversity. With so much bamboo, trees are unable to grow, since bamboo overgrows everything. Proof that elephants are around is everywhere: fresh dung, footprints in the mud, trees eaten bare.
When there is enough food for the elephants, the elephants themselves will create more diversity and keep the forest alive. Not far from the ranger base is a suitable location for planting trees. The tree specialists immediately make a list of the species of trees needed, and plan the number of rai ; where to build firebreaks; and what to do about weeds. But most importantly: everyone is rearing to get going. Three days later, we and ECN have drawn up a complete project, and the rangers have calculated the budget. And another week on, the rangers learn from Forru how to build and keep a nursery, cultivate seeds, and organise reforestation. In August 2008, 10,000 trees for wild elephants will be planted in Salakpra.
