January 2017: GVI Chiang Mai

Interns Group Project: Planting Banana Trees

Objectives
To increase and promote ethical elephant tourism
To create a viable self-sustaining eco-tourism programme for the village
Improve standards of living and job opportunities for the people of Huay Pakoot
Improve sustainable natural resource management in the Huay Pakoot area

Throughout the year we buy additional food for

our elephants to assist with health checks and
also as a little treat for them every couple of
weeks! We currently buy our produce from mar-
kets in Chiang Mai, but we would like to become
as self-sufficient as possible and grow our own
banana trees to feed the elephants.
We are fortunate enough that our base is sur-

rounded by unused land, so volunteers, in-

terns and staff have spent the last few months
clearing the overgrown weed filled area. After
the area was cleared, they dug 16 deep holes
for the young banana trees not an easy feat
in the middle of dry season! With the help of
villagers, we were able to source banana trees
surrounding the village, which the interns then
had to dig out, cut the top and replant to help
with regrowth. The interns are now watering the banana trees daily to ensure they have enough wa-
ter as the ground is very dry at this time of the year.
It is our hope that the village will be able to become self-sufficient with regards to being able to sup-
ply their elephants with a variety of foods. With the intern project we hope to inspire the villagers to
also grow other crops that theyd also be able to supply to the elephants, such as pumpkins or ele-
phant grass. This would also help to achieve two of our project aims; to increase and promote ethi-
cal elephant tourism and to create a viable self-sustaining eco-tourism programme for the village.
As we continue to return elephants to the forest we need to ensure there is enough food for them
throughout all of the seasons and having villagers grow alternative crops will help us guarantee that
theyll have variety and plenty of foods. Having the villagers grow these crops will give them an al-
ternative income than just growing rice and corn.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to clear the area, dug the holes and replanted the trees!

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/elephant-rescue-thailand/updates/

Written by Community Coordinator Holly Jones