Solar panels, inverters and batteries donated to Khlong Phanom National Park

Khlong Phanom National Park is the less known neighbor of Khao Sok National Park. It consists of 410 square kilometers of pristine rainforest, an abundance of wildlife and rare flora such as the endangered Rafflesia flower that can grow nearly a meter wide. The rich diversity of the terrain is astonishing with dramatic limestone cliffs, winding rivers, evergreen forest valleys and lush marshlands that feed the Tapi river. It’s located on the Southern side of route 401 whereas Khao Sok National Park is on the Northern side of the road.

Donation was received by the National Park Chief Mr. Chonnakorn Aksornpet and his team at the park head quarters

The National Park headquarters is located close to our elephant camp where Elephant Hills’ guests meet our free-roaming elephants. They have several smaller ranger stations along the dirt roads leading deep into the national park. A few months ago, we joined hands on an exceptional tree-planting project that saw an old plantation taken back and reforested by planting 1,000 native trees. Within this latest project Elephant Hills donated solar panel sets to one of their ranger stations to help strengthen their conservation efforts.

Smart patrol system in Thailand’s National Parks

The ranger stations are important stopovers for teams doing field patrols that involve days of trekking in the jungle. Patrolling is one of the most effective forms of protection of the valuable natural resources of the National Park. In Thailand, the development to modernize patrol activity with science and technology is called Smart Patrol System that uses a patrol database named SMART (Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool).

The system has been in place since 2006, and from the start the aim has been to equip park rangers and managers with information and technology to better protect areas, boost their morale, and instill a sense of pride in their duty. The ultimate purpose is securing the future of Thailand’s wildlife and its habitat.

After establishing the system, the assessments started quickly showing a decrease in poaching and improved data collection. This encouraged the Department of National Parks to expand the system from the initial pilot sites to other protected areas, including Khlong Phanom National Park.

Renewable energy to support Khong Phanom National Park’s conservation efforts

In one of our regular meetings with the National Park management, we learned about their aspiration to equip a remote ranger station with solar panels. This ranger station is located about 20 kilometers from the main road and is completely off-grid. Having electricity to charge electric appliances needed on the smart patrols would greatly help the hardworking rangers with their protection work.

At Elephant Hills we have been running our Wildlife Monitoring Project since 2011, soon after opening our floating Lake Camp at Cheow Larn Lake. Within this project we install motion triggered camera traps deep in the jungle, collect data and report our findings to the local Research Center, Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park.

To view some of the breathtaking wildlife footage we have captured, see our gallery here.

We do our best to help the local National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in their conservation efforts, and decided to donate solar panel sets including panels, batteries, and inverters to Khlong Phanom National Park. The National Park Chief and his assistant along with other park management and rangers were very pleased to receive the donation at the park headquarters.

Would you like to support the protection of Thailand’s wildlife and their habitat? You can participate by making a donation during your visit to Elephant Hills. We are also looking for individuals, travel agents and other companies to partner with our projects through corporate sponsorship. Together we can carry out meaningful projects in co-operation with local protected areas to safeguard Thailand’s flora and fauna. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information on projects@elephanthills.com