Yesterday, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s Chang[e] Caravan set off from Khao Yai to send a message to the world’s political leaders to act against the threat of disastrous climate change.

‘Chang’ means ‘Elephant’ in Thai, one of the most revered creatures in the country, but elephants can suffer greatly when removed from the wild. Five Asian Elephants in the Caravan were rescued and rehabilitated from Bangkok’s streets by the Thai Elephant Research and Conservation Fund.

Over the next two weeks, the elephants and activists will travel 250km south to the outskirts of the capital to raise awareness about the delicate interconnection between wildlife and climate.

Before setting off, mahout elders held a ceremony, praying to the spirits of ancestor mahouts for safety and luck on the journey. Thai Buddhist monks also blessed the caravan.

Along the way they will hold activities for students and communities on elephant and forest conservation, climate change impacts and renewable energies. Follow the caravan’s progress on Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s blog.

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.

Today, forest rangers completed a two-week intensive training course at Khao Yai National Park, which is earning a reputation as a national and regional center of excellence in park management and ranger patrolling.

What made this course different from previous trainings is that 20 Lao rangers from across the border joined their Thai counterparts to learn best-practice forest protection techniques. Many forests in Laos have been devastated by poaching and this joint training was a chance to compare approaches and exchange skills.

International forest protection experts and local trainers instructed rangers in the latest navigation and patrolling techniques; reconnaissance, arrest and crime scene processing procedures; as well as first-aid skills – the sort of practical training that can mean the difference between life and death when rangers face hostile situations.

Patrolling Southeast Asia’s forests can be extremely dangerous. Conflicts with wildlife poachers, illegal loggers and land grabbers are a regular occurrence.

An increasing government focus and ongoing efforts by conservation groups is ensuring more rangers have the training and equipment they need to safely and effectively protect Southeast Asia’s forest ecosystems for future generations. However, it remains an immensely challenging task, even in well resourced protected areas like Khao Yai.

This latest training course was run by Thailand’s National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), with support from FREELAND.

Junior Thai bird enthusiasts transformed into hornbills at FREELAND’s education booth for the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand’s Free the Birds event in Bangkok’s Railway Park.

Over a sunny weekend last month, staff helped children construct their own beaks and learn about Hornbill behaviour. Parents also got involved – learning about threats to the species from climate change and the exotic pet trade.

Visitors to the booth purchased mushroom packs from FREELAND’s Khao Yai community outreach projects to grow organically at home. FREELAND’s outreach projects provide sustainable livelihood alternatives to poaching.

The Bird Conservation Society of Thailand runs bird watching trips to Khao Yai for young and old (next trip scheduled for December 21). See their website for details and other great resources on Thailand’s amazing bird life.

Khao Yai’s Acoustic Winter Music Fest attracted 20,000 fans last year and this year’s December 6 event could be even bigger.

With artists including Jennifer Kim, Groove Riders, ETC, Po Yokee Playboy, the Sincharoen Brothers, and Sqweez Animal set to jam together on stage, even the ‘gangsta rapping’ Gibbons may be impressed.

At Bonanza Khao Yai, December 6 (2pm-2am), with tickets available from ThaiTicketMajor. Older rockers should turn up a week earlier for the Road to Country: Carabao & Friends concert.

We’re sure organisers are doing something huge for the environment, we just haven’t heard what it is yet! So let us know.

In the lead up to World Environment Day (June 5), more than 100 students from five schools joined Khao Yai and FREELAND staff to get their hands dirty planting trees on a 20 acre deforested area near the park boundary, where human encroachment had damaged the forest.

Tree planting during the rainy season (May-June) gives saplings the best chance to survive, thanks to reliably high rainfalls. Local villagers grew saplings for the reforestation from seeds, nurturing them for many months – now those saplings can spread their roots.

Luckily, the rain held off on this fun day for all involved; full of music, smiling faces and hands-on conservation. The participation of schools aims to build awareness about the importance of forest preservation for future generations.

With generous support from The Foundation and many small helping hands, FREELAND’s Khao Yai reforestation work is direct action to combat global warming and reclaim lost habitat for wildlife.

Earlier this month, 300 students attending the Sai Jai Thai Youth Camp spent three days in Khao Yai to learn about the forest, its wildlife, and the importance of nature conservation.

The Sai Jai Thai Youth Camp allows students from the South of Thailand, many from families affected by the 2004 tsunami, to experience a new environment and learn about other parts of the country, including the World Heritage Listed Khao Yai National Park.

Khao Yai and FREELAND staff assisted with fun educational activities, including hiking in the forest; bird watching and wildlife spot lighting; singing folk songs; and hands-on learning with animal bones and paw print casts.

Every year, park rangers make a pledge to the spirits of Khao Yai at a sacred ceremony in the forest. They promise not to hunt, kill or consume wild animals, and to protect the park from those that would.

Rangers also ask the spirits of Khao Yai to protect them from danger while on patrol. If any ranger was to break their promise to the spirits, it is said they will be cursed with a tragedy within 5-10 days that could also hurt others on the same patrol.

The spirits of Khao Yai are believed to have a connection with a community that settled in Dong Phayayen – Khao Yai and lived in harmony with the forest a long time ago.

FREELAND, which also trains Khao Yai’s rangers, is working with the village communities that live around the park today to help them develop a more sustainable relationship with the forest and provide real alternatives to poaching from the park.

FREELAND recently donated 21 new GPS units to Khao Yai National Park and trained rangers in GPS navigation techniques. Using the upgraded technology, rangers will be able to patrol the park more effectively and better protect Khao Yai’s natural ecosystems and diverse wildlife.

FREELAND’s full-day training course equipped 39 Khao Yai rangers with the knowledge they’ll need to use the new GPS units, as well as basic patrol planning techniques.

While many rangers have local knowledge of forest routes and can patrol without navigation aids, the new GPS units will allow them to vary patrol routes more, making it harder for poachers to avoid detection – good news for Khao Yai’s protected plant and animal species.

The new equipment and training will also allow rangers to accurately record their patrol routes, data that will inform future patrol planning and strategies for better park protection.

Interested young concert goers got their hands on some paw prints cast in Khao Yai at FREELAND’s forest education booth for the Retree Music Festival (September 13-14) . FREELAND Carnivore Project Field Coordinator, Kanda, is pictured explaining which animals made each track.

FREELAND’s booth presented the results of carnivore conservation research conducted in Khao Yai. Thousands of concert goers had the opportunity to learn more about Khao Yai’s wildlife, the work of FREELAND and other conservation groups, as well as experience some great music and support Thailand’s forests.