Elephant, Gibbon & Forest Conservation in Thailand for Teenagers

Do you love elephants? Are you passionate about wildlife rehabilitation? Interested in living and working in a remote environment? This is your chance to bring those passions to life, spending two weeks in the mountain forests of northern Thailand. 

This project will take you to a remote village in Chiang Mai province where you will get stuck into vital conservation work alongside local experts. You’ll help rehabilitate Asian Elephants who have retired from the tourism industry, monitor local species like gibbons and birds, and support reforestation efforts.

When you aren’t contributing to conservation efforts, you’ll fully immerse in the local community. You’ll learn the local, tribal language of Pakinyaw, which is at risk of being lost to time, and learn the ancient ways of the “mahouts”, the traditional caretakers of elephants in the region. You’ll also attend workshops to learn about local crafts and traditions, teach English to the local community, and play sports with children at a nearby school. 

Throughout your journey, you’ll be working alongside other teenagers from around the world, making friendships to last a lifetime and developing key skills like confidence, independence, and teamwork. 

Plus, you’ll get 24/7 support and supervision from our experienced local staff and push well outside of your comfort zone, enhancing your global perspective.

As a conservation volunteer, you’ll learn from  professional conservationists in the mountain forests of northern Thailand. You’ll conduct observational conservation work with Asian Elephants while also working to protect the local ecosystem.

Here are some of the tasks you can expect to do during your placement, depending on the needs at the time:

For decades, Asian Elephants across Thailand have faced habitat loss and welfare concerns when exploited for commercial tourism (such as elephant rides). At the same time, human development and expansion threatens mountain ecosystems in the north of Thailand.

This project addresses these challenges by supporting a community-led model, allowing rescued elephants to live naturally in the forest while providing sustainable livelihoods for local villagers. The local Pakinyaw people have lived side-by-side with elephants for hundreds of years, acting as their guardians.

Our conservation work here is strictly observation-only, monitoring elephant populations and behaviour. This support means mahouts can continue their traditional role while receiving fair compensation that avoids reliance on invasive tourism practices.

Beyond elephant welfare, our participants actively monitor wider forest biodiversity, collecting critical data on species like the endangered Lar Gibbon. 

You’ll actively contribute towards three long-term and sustainable goals:

• Protect and monitor rescued Asian Elephants living semi-wild in their natural habitat through observational research.
• Safeguard forest biodiversity by collecting continuous survey data on species such as the Lar Gibbon, local birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
• Support local villagers through sustainable ecotourism income, environmental workshops, and educational sessions.