Elephants at centre of tourism tiff
For the ethnic Bunong people in this northeastern province, animals are an integral part of the local economy. Pigs, chickens and water buffaloes offer a variety of sustenance and labour. But it’s the elephants that bring foreigners – and foreigners bring cash. “When I get tours, the money is spread around the community,” said 32-year-old Mnacn Hong, who has been a mahout, or elephant trainer, since the age of 13 in Poutang village, near Mondulkiri’s capital, Sen Monorom. Hong and other local guides say tourist dollars flowed until 2005, when a conservation initiative called the Elephant Valley Project (EVP) started offering visitors a chance to observe, as opposed to ride, elephants. The project was lauded in the media and travel blogs as an ethical alternative to the local tours. Any cursory search on the internet will result in posts and articles describing elephants beyond the reach of the project as abused. … At $60 for two people, the local trek guides tourists from the village to the waterfalls, through the jungle, then back to the village. According to Hong, business is down 50 per cent. The Elephant Valley Project, run by an NGO called Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment, or ELIE, gives guests an opportunity to observe animals in their natural setting, deep in the jungle. The EVP website advertises a full-day tour, including food, for $70. After a hike to one of three designated valleys that elephants are led to by their mahouts, visitors get a chance to see them roam the environment and bathe in the river. In the afternoon, tourists can help bathe the elephants from a man-made concrete platform. … Jemma Bullock, ELIE eco-tourism program officer and Elephant Valley Project assistant manager, insists that villages are exaggerating, and that the project doesn’t condemn elephant-riding tours. She pointed out that the project pays some local mahouts a $125 monthly wage to bring their elephants, instead of letting them out for rides, to the sanctuary to “do what elephants do best”, play with mud and eat. … Despite the good intentions, anger is mounting over the distribution of tourism dollars that the NGO receives in comparison to local tourism businesses. “The locals accuse us of being a business that keeps all the money,” Bullock said. “And they’re upset because they think we are taking all the tourists, but that’s not true.” …
Laura Ma
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/elephants-centre-tourism-tiff
