By Jessica Knierim | Development Associate
Last weekend, on August 12, we celebrated World Elephant Day! This day was created to help raise awareness about the urgent plight of elephants in both Africa and Asia. Only 35,000 Asian elephants remain and we are on the brink of losing this iconic species forever. With the escalation of habitat destruction, human-elephant conflict and sustained poaching, the future of the Asian elephant is uncertain. Although they once roamed across most of Asia, habitat destruction has reduced their range to just 15% of their former habitat. The remaining forest is highly fragmented, and with few corridors to connect them, herds now survive only in small, isolated pockets, where they are vulnerable to poaching and inbreeding. In Cambodia specifically, it is estimated that only 300 elephants remain in the wild, and even that may be generous.
Wildlife Alliance is dedicated to not just stabilizing Cambodia’s elephant populations, but we aim to increase their numbers. In order to do that, we must ensure that these massive animals have all the space they need to thrive. Wildlife Alliance provides direct protection to 720,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of tropical forest in the Southern Cardamoms and addresses the local drivers of deforestation through zoning and demarcation of protected forestland; advocacy at all levels of government to cancel agro-industrial and mining land concessions; development of alternative livelihoods in agriculture, ecotourism, and reforestation for poor landless farmers who previously subsisted on environmentally destructive practices; and support for environmental policy development and law enforcement. Located in the Indo-Burmese peninsula, an internationally recognized biodiversity hotspot, the Cardamom Mountain Range is one of Cambodia’s most important watersheds and carbon sinks, home to 16 critically endangered species, and one of Asia’s last seven remaining elephant corridors.
Through increased involvement of the communities in habitat management as well as participatory forest patrolling, Wildlife Alliance is actively repairing and regenerating degraded forest. To date, Wildlife Alliance has secured the cancellation or reduction of 37 land concessions, preserving vital habitat that is essential for the preservation of Asian elephants worldwide.
Thank you for your support of our forest rangers who are dedicated to preserving one of Asia’s last elephant corridors. Your donations are helping ensure a future for this iconic species.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser