Nam Pouy National Protected Area (NPA) is found in Sayaboury Province in Northern Laos. The protected area was identified as a top priority for Elephant Conservation by the Government of Lao PDR at a National Elephant Conservation Meeting held in 2008.
The Elephant Conservation Center has been working on elephant conservation in Laos since 2001, primarily focusing on the captive elephant population.
However, given the Government’s prioritisation and the relevance of the Nam Pouy elephant population in the region, ECC with the support of the Sayaboury Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office work with the Government to develop a Wild Elephant Conservation and Community Development Program in Nam Pouy NPA since 2019.
Our project focuses on restoring, maintaining and increasing populations of the Asian elephant within well managed protected sanctuaries through the implementation of project activities such as:
- Improving the rangers patrolling system and law enforcement in Nam Pouy NPA,
- Collecting data and monitoring the existing wild elephant population,
- Mitigating human-elephant conflicts,
- Developing Income Generating Activities for local communities,
- Improving forest conservation, protection
- Establishing new land use management practices (buffer zones).
- Releasing captive elephants into the Protected Area so that they can bond with their wild cousins.