Biodiversity conservation innovations

Elephants in Socialization Area in the Elephant Conservation Center, Xayabury, Laos, in December 2018.
Author: Oleksandr Rupeta

Biodiversity conservation innovations

  • Our Objective

    This project is developing new approaches toward elephant and habitat conservation, maximizing co-benefits for nature and people in a financially sustainable manner. The project partners with the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC), a private-sector organization in Xayabury province, Laos, exploring new ways for the ECC to diversify their income beyond eco-tourism. The project will also support the ECC in building new conservation partnerships, enabling the organization to expand their elephant care, monitoring, and rewilding activities. Through the ECC, the project also aims to foster engagement with local schools and communities and enhance our conservation efforts in the Solutionscape.

  • Figures

    The project was launched on June 1, 2023 and is currently in progress.

Summary

The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) is a leader in eco-tourism in Xayabury and across Laos. The ECC holds a 540-hectare land concession, 70% of which is forested. Over the last 15 years, it has generated valuable data sets and provided a sanctuary for both wild and captive elephants in Laos. However, the center has struggled economically after the pandemic due to limited income streams to support its important work in conservation and local capacity building. Given ECC’s significant efforts around the Nam Tien protected area, collaborating with and supporting the ECC is integral to elephant and forest conservation.

The project supports the development of the Education, Conservation & Research (ECORE) initiative with the ECC, providing local, regional, and international researchers with a base for medium- and long-term studies that use the ECC’s unique setting. The long-term goal is to develop the ECC into a regional facility for research in conservation and the environment, including agriculture and forestry. Another aim is to further develop research areas with local and international partners, using the concession site and the protected area around Nam Tien reservoir as the main site for research. ECORE will not only generate new research and findings, but also allow for North-South research partnerships, exchange and capacity building. This includes collaborating with Lao educational institutions, supporting local students, and integrating conservation efforts with local communities, which is another priority of ECORE.

Project Connections

Timeline

  • Where Elephants Lead: A Journey into Systems Transformation in Laos

    Project Update July 31, 2025

    One of the most impactful stops along the journey was the visit to the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) in Xayabury, marking the first official educational visit to the Center’s Education, Conservation & Research (ECORE) program. At the ECC, students were introduced to pressing environmental challenges such as the expansion of monocrop-driven agriculture, which threatens forest biodiversity and traditional land-use systems.This issue was contextualized within the broader work of our Hub Southeast Asia’s Solutionscape, a collaborative approach focused on developing solutions that protect and restore nature while supporting the people who depend on the land and its resources.

    Three elephants standing at the edge of a forest pond at the Elephant Conservation Center in Xayabury, Laos.

  • Connecting Academia and Conservation with the Elephant Conservation Center in Laos

    Project Update December 10, 2024

    Elephants are a keystone species. They play a major role in the ecosystem, they open pathways for smaller plants to grow as they make their way in the forest, their dung disperses seeds, and their existence ensures biodiversity. Culturally, elephants have been a sacred national symbol in Laos. A few centuries ago, Laos was named “Land of a Million Elephants,” but now there are only 800 captive and wild elephants left in the country (according to the ECC). Deforestation in Laos has led to the loss of wildlife habitats and human-wildlife conflicts, and the logging ban has left many mahouts out of work, and without income to take care of their elephants.The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) is a key player in elephant conservation in Laos, managing over 30 elephants across a 540-hectare reserve and the adjacent National Park. The Wyss Academy for Nature’s Hub Southeast Asia realized the importance of balancing between nature and human wellbeing and has partnered up with the ECC since early 2023 to explore and test multiple conservation efforts. One such effort is to provide local, regional and international researchers with a base for medium and long-term studies, utilizing the ECC’s unique setting and supporting the Education, Conservation & Research (ECORE) initiative. As a scientific basecamp for students and researchers, ECORE aims to drive research and connect scientific studies with social science and community development.

    Participants at ECORE workshop at the Elephant Conservation Center where experts came together to bridge the gaps between research and conservation practices.

  • A greener future

    Project Update February 28, 2024

    For the first time in more than three years, rural school children in a remote part of Laos were able to visit the internationally acclaimed Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) that is located just a few kilometers from where they live.Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) had been unable to accept visitors. The financial impact of the closure forced staff of the Centre to focus on ensuring the health and safety of the population of 30 elephants that are at home in the Nam Tien Protection Area. Now, with the support of the Wyss Academy, ECC is stepping up its engagement with the communities. This plays a crucial role in the fate of the forest on which the elephants depend.   The cliché 'the future belongs to the children' is certainly true in Laos, where over 50% of the population is under the age of 25. As in other parts of the world, the income used by rural people to build better houses and send their children to school is often generated at the expense of the natural environment. Resulting in forests being destroyed, rivers polluted, and soils exhausted. As a result, the next generation of farmers in Laos cannot follow the same path as their parents. Many may decide to leave their villages, but those who stay will need to create a different future for themselves. A greener future. Rural schools are both a seedbed for cultivating the knowledge and attitudes that will shape the lives of the next generation of farmers, and a hub for community engagement. In Sayaboury Province, in the villages closest to the Nam Tien Protection Area, a network of teachers is receiving support from the Wyss Academy to promote Environmental Wellbeing in their Schools. This includes environmental educational activities both in the classroom and during visits to ECC, and improvements to community waste management. Environmental Wellbeing is not something that can be achieved overnight. Creating a balanced and sustainable interaction between human activities and the natural world requires persistent efforts at all levels of society. When young children are guided through the forest and encounter the elephants that inhabit it, observing their eating habits, bathing rituals, and nurturing behaviors towards their young, it fosters an inspiring and unforgettable experience. It is an encounter between two species that must become better partners on that journey towards a greener future.

    The young students from Non Sawan primary school visiting ECC (23 Jan 2024)

  • Happy elephants and happy people

    Project Update December 13, 2023

    Situated near Sayaboury town in Laos, Nam Tien Provincial Protected Area spans 6,000 hectares. It has been home to the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) since 2010. The Nam Tien area provides a secure habitat for 10% of the country's captive elephants. Maintaining a healthy captive population in Laos is considered crucial, both by the Government of Laos and the conservation community, as it represents a vital resource that can help strengthen the country’s remaining wild elephant population. The ECC's rewilding program relies on the availability of elephants of breeding age capable of forming strong social bonds before their eventual release.But the elephants are frequently disturbed: The Nam Tien area has been facing encroachments in the form of large-scale agriculture, such as bananas and watermelon. Additional disturbances, like karaoke boats on the lake, are increasing, underscoring the vulnerability of conservation measures when faced with lucrative businesses.In January 2023, the Wyss Academy for Nature established a partnership with the Elephant Conservation Center to test and implement various innovative approaches to the conservation of both species and habitats. Their long-term sustainability is ensured by the fact that they also bring benefits for communities. The measures include a mahout-to-ranger program in which traditional and scientific knowledge are combined, and the piloting of a new research-based business model for conservation focused on eco-tourism. In addition, the ECC reaches out to local communities with environmental- and conservation-focused education programs.

    Elephants in the Elephant Conservation Center in Nam Tien, Laos

Team

Other Projects in this Solutionscape