One man's vision creates new future for domestic elephants in Thailand ...

High quality paper made from elephant dung is helping to protect Thailand’s elephants and bring work to the people who care for the massive animals, once used to haul teak wood, build infrastructure, and help farmers till and cultivate their land. Where Thailand had more than 100,000 domestic elephants a century ago, the country is estimated to have only about 6,000 now as the economic need for their labour has faded.

Wanchai Asawawibulkij used to pass a natural paper factory on his way home from work (Thailand is renowned for its natural paper made from tree fibres, known as Sa or Mulberry paper). Then one day, he visited the Thai Elephant Centre in Lampang, in northern Thailand, and noticed piles of fibrous elephant dung. That gave him an idea.

He brought a carload of dung home, and experimented with it, using the family food processor to cut the long fibres to a shorter length. Finally, his wife gave him an ultimatum – either concentrate on his own job and stop bringing elephant dung home, or work on making the dung paper full time. He chose the second option. Now, his paper made at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre helps many of the elephants who had lost their occupation.

"Thai elephants have helped many generations of Thais and they continue to provide many jobs for the ordinary people like me,” he says. “It might be just plain dung to most but to me every time a ball drops it is another opportunity to help them – one man's or elephant's trash is another's treasure – where there is muck there is money'.” He bought his wife a new food processor, but he still has the old one as a reminder of the importance of having the courage to keep trying, even if many people think you are crazy or mad.

Elephants are poor digesters of their food, and sugar cane, bamboo, grass and watermelon seeds are just a few of the fibres still visible in the finished paper. One elephant eats 200 kilograms of food a day, and produces 50 kilograms of dung which in turn produces 115 sheets of paper. Younger elephants produce smoother paper than older elephants. The dung is collected, then washed and boiled for five hours to get rid of bacteria. Nothing is wasted – even the excess water is used to water the plants grown at the centre to feed the elephants. The mixture is spun for up to three hours to cut the fibres, and colour is added. Balls of equal weight are prepared (a 300 gram ball will make one large sheet of paper) and then sifted evenly on to bamboo frames, then left to dry for as long as needed. The paper is gently sanded, then is ready for use.

The paper provides income that helps to feed and care for the elephants, as well as providing jobs to relatives of elephant keepers and low-income families. Construction of many of the products is outsourced to local hill tribe villages, providing the people with much-needed employment. When busy, upwards of 200 people may be employed in producing the paper. Some of the elephants living at the centre have learned to play football and to paint pictures on the paper as well, attracting many tourists as well as expanding the repertoire of products. The profits from the sale of the elephant dung paper go back into supporting the elephants through what is known as a “circle of conservation”.

People living outside Asia can purchase the elephant dung paper through suppliers in North America and the United Kingdom.

This story was compiled from information on the Elephant Dung Paper website as well as from information on the UK and US websites. Contact: Elephant Dung Paper, Thai Elephant Conservation Center,Km. 28-29, Lampang - Chiang Mai Highway, Hang Chat, Lampang 52190, Thailand.

 

 

... and Sri Lanka

In 2006, a Sri Lanka papermaking firm named Maximus won the World Challenge competition for its work in making high-quality products from a variety of wastes, including paper from offices and bark from banana trees. The firm set up shop in Kegalle, Sri Lanka, in 1997, not far from an elephant orphanage. In Sri Lanka there is competition between elephants and a growing human population for land.

The proximity of elephants was a boon for the papermakers; for as they soon discovered elephant dung is an ideal raw material for paper products, they began a range of elephant-dung paper to draw attention to the plight of the Sri Lankan elephant. This unusual product has found buyers within Sri Lanka and throughout the world. A proportion of the sales are donated to the Millennium Elephant Foundation, which is affiliated with the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), which maintains a home for elderly and disabled elephants.

But elephants are not the only beneficiaries. Maximus provides an income for 35 staff, and its recently established 'Peace Paper' scheme helps rural people earn money from collecting dung from wild elephants and thus reduces the human/elephant conflict that currently rages in rural villages in Sri Lanka. The company plans to produce wild elephant dung paper in such areas by building paper recycling plants and training villages in paper making techniques and selling the finished products. Such a cottage industry can help villagers live, work with, and respect elephants rather than struggling against them, the company says.

At the Millennium Elephant Foundation, located about 2.5 hours drive from Colombo, elephant waste is recycled and turned into sheets of paper. The Maximus (Pvt.) Ltd paper recycling factory on-site produces hand-made paper using a mixture of elephant dung and other natural products to any thickness and in a variety of colors. Paper and paper goods can be bought in the museum at the MEF or the on-site factory.

The Millennium Elephant Foundation is situated on a 15 acre estate known as Samaragiri, which has been home to the Samarasinghe family for many generations. The family has owned elephants since the 1960's and in 1979, opened the estate to the public as the "Elephant Bath". Currently the MEF is home to 5 cow (female) elephants. The youngest, Pooja was the first captive elephant to be bred in Sri Lanka, born in 1984. It is estimated that the MEF grounds have a total holding capacity of 10-15 female elephants. The MEF actively welcomes visitors and encourages one to one interaction with them.

Contact: The Millennium Elephant Foundation, Randeniya, Hiriwadunna, Kegalle, Sri Lanka.

 

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