Khao Yai Experiences
Stories from Thailand’s World Heritage ParkArchive for Education
Zooming in on Biodiversity
Professional and amateur photographers, photography enthusiasts and students are invited to submit photo entries to the first ASEAN-wide photo contest “Zooming in on Biodiversity”.
Open until August 30th, 2009, the contest for residents of Southeast Asian countries is being run by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity to promote regional public awareness about the importance of biodiversity conservation.
Photo entries should highlight:
- Biodiversity, including plants, animals, marine life, or ASEAN Heritage Parks
- Threats to biodiversity and how it affects people’s lives
- The connection between biodiversity and climate change
- Biodiversity as source of livelihoods, such as ecotourism
- Initiatives to protect biodiversity resources
More than USD7,000 in prizes are up for grabs. Visit the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity website for more details.
Wildlife trafficking PSA filmed at Khao Yai
The opening of this confronting public service announcement (PSA) about wildlife trafficking from FREELAND was filmed at Khao Yai National Park’s stunning Haew Suwat Waterfall (location of a breathtaking scene in Danny Boyle’s The Beach).
The PSA’s star is a Slow Loris, an animal commonly poached from protected areas to be sold into the illicit pet trade. Listed as vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species, these cute little creatures are in more demand than Leonardo DiCaprio, but have a tough time surviving outside their natural habitat.
Produced by AsiaWorks Television Bangkok and featuring music specially composed by Damien Rice, this FREELAND PSA is designed to alert everyone to the fact that:
“Thousands of wild animals are trafficked through airports every day.”
These animals belong in the wild. Please share this message with your friends.
UPDATE: View ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage, who said working with kids and animals wasn’t fun?
Planting seeds for the next generation of conservationists
More than 100 students attended a three-day youth camp at Khao Yai last month to learn about the forest, wildlife, and the importance of nature conservation.
The camp kicked off on Thailand’s National Forest Conservation Day (Jan 14) with fun educational activities, such as hiking, bird watching and identifying animal tracks, all organized by Khao Yai and FREELAND staff.
Students also learned about poaching threats to Khao Yai’s wildlife, and ongoing efforts by rangers, conservation groups and other supporters to protect the park.
With six local schools involved, many new friendships were formed as students pitched tents, sung folk songs and put on campfire theatre shows about what they’d learned.
On the final day, students helped plant 3,000 trees donated by Leschaco (Thailand), as part of ongoing efforts to reforest an area of the park cleared by human encroachment.
With continued support for conservation, these students will someday be able to revisit their trees in a restored part of the forest complex providing habitat for diverse species of wildlife again.
Mushroom experts help local community and forest
Organic mushroom farming is a great way for villages around Khao Yai to make a living, as an alternative to cutting trees or poaching wildlife from the park.
Last month, FREELAND brought in a group of experts from the Phra Dabos Foundation’s Mushroom Cultivation in Sufficiency Agriculture Program to help Kok Sa-ard Village, just north of Khao Yai, further increase productivity and markets for its small-scale mushroom growing enterprises, set up with FREELAND’s help.
21 villagers participated in the three-day training, which covered everything from the basics of mass mushroom pack preparation, through to natural preservation methods to create ready-to-eat snack products and extend the shelf-life of produce.
Trainers also explained how to recycle materials to eliminate waste; and provided advice on dealing with changes in climate, such as the current cold snap.
Boonlert Thaitatkul, the lead instructor from Phra Dabos with over 35 years experience in mushroom cultivation, provided villagers with design plans and supervised the first stages of construction of an improved model cultivation house.
As this new knowledge is shared, it is hoped that low-impact organic agriculture will become an even more attractive option for villages on the edges of Khao Yai, ensuring a more sustainable and harmonious relationship with the forest.
FREELAND thanks the Phra Dabos Foundation for their time and expertise, and the Blue Moon Fund for making this training and the projects possible.
Restoring habitat and fighting global warming
Last week, 3,000 trees were planted as part of ongoing efforts to regenerate a deforested area at the edge of Khao Yai National Park.
More than 100 students from six local schools helped plant trees covering 10 rai of land, on a reforestation day sponsored by Leschaco (Thailand). Leschaco staff joined the students, FREELAND and Khao Yai rangers to get their hands dirty planting saplings grown by nearby village communities.
FREELAND thanks all the student volunteers and Leschaco for their ‘hands-on’ contribution restoring habitat for Khao Yai’s wildlife and helping the fight against global warming.
If you would like to support our next reforestation day, please contact FREELAND.
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Khao Yai Sustainable Visitor's Guide (PDF 275kb)