Reforestation project for elephants in Surin



SURIN: -- The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is joining hands with the Zoological Organisation to launch a reforestation project in Surin province to return forest to the elephants to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday on August 12.

One special feature of this event is that a herd of elephants will be used to bring the saplings to a 300-rai plot of land which is to be reforested under the Kotcha Anachak programme.

Egat has agreed to sponsor the saplings and 1.8 million baht funding for the project for three years. This project is part of the joint effort by Egat and Zoological Organisation to show their social responsibility in improving the environment and in building a natural home for elephants.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/reafforestration-project-for-elephants-in-surin


-- Thai PBS 2015-07-28

It's a good start. I had to prepare a summer school science project a few years back, and it saddened me to find out over the last ten years Thailand has lost over 90% of its wild elephants. Let's hope this reforestation continues.

Yeah nice to see some good news!! Hope it all goes well!!

It's a good start. I had to prepare a summer school science project a few years back, and it saddened me to find out over the last ten years Thailand has lost over 90% of its wild elephants. Let's hope this reforestation continues.

I wouldn't get too excited or hopeful over this - such reforestation projects by state organisations are ten a baht in Thailand and are mostly just for show. A bunch of wealthy poo yai and bureaucrats come out on the planting day, get on TV, eat and drink a load, pay locals to attend to make up the numbers, make some grand speeches about how they are saving the elephant and "nature", go home, sleep forget about the trees until the next time. In the meanwhile, the trees (often unsuitable species to the local ecology or for elephant food) are untended, unwatered in dry times, washed away infloods, get disease, pests, or just smothered in weeds and slowly die off. Nobody gives a toss, as the pots of govt money are deep and the exercise can always be repeated next year.

To be sustainable, these sorts of tree planting exercises need at least 5-6 years of close care and maintenance of the trees to establish themselves - and apart from eucalyptus plantations (great for elephant food - NOT!), such projects are rarer than hens teeth. I've even seen hundreds of tree saplings planted straight out in their bags on a project on Phu Rua, Loei. That one was sponsored by PTT. Oh yes, and how many times are the plastic bags and other rubbish, even if the trees are removed from them, actually cleared away and properly disposed of by the organisers?

I've seen no improvement in these projects in over 20 years observation.....so you can forgive me if I am a little bit sceptical about the prospects of this latest one.

plachon - Hope springs eternal!