Huay Pakoot Elephant, Gibbon & Forest Conservation

Deep in the mountain forests of Chiang Mai Province, this community-based conservation project offers a rare opportunity to support semi-wild Asian elephants, gibbons, and biodiversity — without riding, touching, or exploiting them. Volunteers work alongside the Karen community of Huay Pakoot, where elephant families depend on forest-based livelihoods, helping make wildlife conservation economically viable for local families as a genuine alternative to tourism.

The program is built for adults with a moderate fitness level and a willingness to learn. No prior experience is needed. Participants join elephant observation treks, dawn gibbon surveys, bird surveys, and camera trapping, while also contributing to reforestation, ecobrick building, litter clean-ups, and sustainability workshops. Community involvement includes delivering English learning sessions for local children and adults, with the project having run nearly 440 children's sessions and 92 adult sessions in a single year.

Each day follows a clear rhythm: fieldwork in the morning, data entry and workshops in the afternoon, and cultural exchange with the Karen community in the evening.