Organizations like our partners at Bring the Elephant Home are proving that protecting wildlife and supporting human communities aren’t competing goals and can become powerful engines for local development. They’ve shown us that some of the most successful conservation stories come not just from scientists studying wildlife in remote regions around the world but from places where people and animals live side by side.
Let’s start in rural Thailand, where the sound of an approaching elephant can signal to farmers that their season’s harvest may be threatened. At the same time, Asian elephants are under threat as human development encroaches on territories that were once their own. When elephants can no longer follow their long-established migration routes or access preferred feeding grounds, they can enter into conflict with humans, adding to the safety concerns of local communities.
This dynamic plays out across Asia and Africa, and traditional responses—building walls, using loud noises, or even retaliatory killings—often prove ineffective and can escalate conflicts rather than resolve them. The result is a tragic cycle for both elephants and people.
Innovation Through Collaboration
That’s where Bring the Elephant Home comes in, a nonprofit that has spent the last 20-plus years building partnerships with local communities in Thailand and South Africa and learning how traditional knowledge can work with conservation science to create positive outcomes for everyone. A prime example is their Tom Yum Project, named for a traditional Thai soup whose ingredients—chili peppers, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, onions, coriander and kaffir lime—are naturally distasteful to elephants. When Thai farmers grow these and other elephant-deterrent crops in buffer zones around their primary fields, they protect their main harvests while generating additional income from the sale of these other high-value ingredients.
This works because it respects both the needs of elephants and the economic realities of farming communities. Farmers continue using their existing agricultural skills while adopting practices that improve soil health and biodiversity. The project has also sparked local entrepreneurship, with communities developing products like herbal teas, essential oils, and handicrafts from their elephant-deterrent crops.
Building Resilient Communities
As has been demonstrated, conservation programs like Bring The Elephant Home’s Tom Yum Project work because they reduce conflict AND strengthen communities. Beehive fences that deter elephants also have been implemented in these areas of human elephant cohabitation, a solution that not only protects crops but produces honey and provides pollination services. Water management systems designed for wild elephants benefit livestock too and improve access to clean water for villages.
When communities become active partners in conservation rather than passive recipients of outside intervention, they develop ownership and pride in protecting wildlife.
The success of community-based elephant conservation in Thailand offers hope for addressing similar conflicts worldwide. By listening to local communities, respecting traditional knowledge, and designing solutions that serve both human and wildlife needs, we can create a future where people and elephants can harmoniously coexist.
