Elsewhere on site, our planting program has gathered momentum. With further dredging and profiling of the pools about to start, we are now planting water lilies around the edges of two of the pools to assist regeneration and to help reduce algae growth, giving the pool-life shelter from the rain and a place to lay eggs. Jake’s mother, Jinda, is using her gardening expertise to position the water lilies in the right place on the banks to ensure that they thrive.
We have room for many more trees to protect and enhance the life of our elephant family in the future and to encourage wildlife to settle.
Please help us by sponsoring a tree. Only £25 for a lifetime’s memory. Click here if you would like to be a permanent part of this exciting adventure.
Two of the pools have been dredged and re-profiled to ensure the water is revitalised, replacing the old, stagnant water that
untouched for years. This will encourage more pool life to thrive, as well as maintaining the fauna already in the pools like this gourami (we put it back after the photo was taken!).
The purpose of the re-profiling is to create a base around the pools for our planting program, and space for the rocky boulders we will move in to enhance the natural look of the pools. We are determined to maintain the
Creating an attractive area by the pools has the added benefit of providing our future elephants and visitors with a cool area by the water, and shade for them to relax. Visitors will be able to quietly enjoy watching the elephants roaming, feeding and bathing in their natural jungle surroundings.
Re-profiling will also help to reduce the risk of the water stagnation and inhibit growth of 
Whilst there is still a lot to do, this week’s fantastic work on the pools, which are integral to the elephants’ welfare, highlights the excellent progress we are making. You can see more on Ollie’s helpful 24-second video clip:
Can you help us finish the job? Click here to help us get the site in the best condition for the elephants’ welfare….
Across the 16 rie (6.32 acres) that we are developing as an elephant facility (primarily for retired elephants and later for conservation), eight cherry trees have been planted adjacent to the three pools to provide seasonal colour, with their magnificent white and pink flowers adding to 
In the north-east corner of the site, which is at an elevated level, and where the elephants and mahouts will reside, rain trees (Albizia saman) have been planted in order to create large areas of shade, which are important for the elephants to keep cool as they do not sweat through their skin. A rain tree grows in a dome shape with a spread of up to 20-30m wide, as well as reaching some 30m in height, providing the elephants with the perfect umbrella needed in Southern Thailand’s rainy season.
Can you help us with the costs of these wonderful trees that will survive for generations? If you can, please click here.The work of planting these new trees was completed by a team of only five, as well as one of our trustees, Jake, in the scorching heat just before the rainy season.
Ollie has a short video to show how the tree planting is going:
Come back next week, to read another blog post on the new site’s progress!
It has been another frantic week at the site, with lots of action after numerous Thai contractors visited us to discuss the critical next stage with our Project Manager, Jake. One of the contractors is pictured sitting by a pool in his improvised hammock discussing the plans with Jake!
Concrete is out as it is not in-keeping with the ecological ethos of the project, and we want to create a natural waterway for the elephants to bathe in. It is important to have a range of substrates to walk on to encourage natural exfoliation of the elephants’ feet.
Here you can see some photos of the pools before work started and a 24 second video clip taken by Ollie
The pools are an essential part of maintaining a high standard of elephant welfare – STEF’s top priority. Not only for drinking, elephants love, and need, to bathe in order to cool down and get some respite from the hot sun. 
Two natural eco-sensitive ramps will be built to give the elephants an easy route into and out of the pool.
The other two pools to the east of the site will be dredged and re-profiled, and a water supply will be connected to allow them to be flushed through with clean water, so they remain fresh and silt-free. There will be a natural cascade of water between the middle pool and elephant pool. Trees growing between the pools will provide vital shade for the elephants around the centre .
This is a very exciting stage of the site’s development and we feel it will be a wonderful feature for our new family of elephants.
Come back next week, to read another blog post on the new site’s progress!
Jake said: “This has been an exciting but challenging project working against the clock to get as much done before the rainy season arrives. The team has done so well clearing all of the rubber trees and, with the help of Lee Sambrook, we have now got a very clear idea of how to lay out the land in an ecofriendly way so it is best suited to our elephants. We have had to change our plans as the work progressed as although the natural pools appear ideal for the elephants to bathe and relax only one of these has proved suitable for elephant use. Fortunately this is the largest and widest, with the best surrounding access for the elephants and will provide an excellent focus for visitors to watch these wonderful animals bathing.”
With Jake able to speak both Thai and English fluently, his regular visits to the site have been invaluable to direct the Thai workers and to ensure each part of the plan’s execution is undertaken correctly and to our ecosensitive specification. One aspect of this has been the planting of the new trees, as well as making sure the soil is prepared and ready for the turf to be laid. One of our labourers has been working on this land for over 40 years, so understands the soil behaviour and the effects of the seasonal weather on the land.
Soon our thoughts must turn to the education and visitor centres, which we plan to 
It’s been great to talk to Jake on site this week, and you can read more about him and his passion for the work of STEF here.
Please do come back next week, to read another blog post on the new site’s progress!
Southern Thailand Elephant Foundation (STEF) is delighted to announce the appointment as the charity’s Technical Advisor, of Lee Sambrook, one of the world’s leading elephant authorities.
Chairman of Trustees, Dr Andrew Higgins, said: “I have been fortunate to know Lee for several years and I am delighted that the Trustees have decided to appoint him as Technical Adviser. Lee’s advice, guidance, and a lifetime’s experience will ensure all of our projects are undertaken with the best interests of the elephant in mind”.
Lee has already spent several weeks at the new Ban Ton Sae site (pictured here with Jakrapob Thaotad, STEF Trustee and Project Manager), working hard to ensure the ground is cleared and prepared for the next phase of development.
The technique of creating pasture and grassland on previously cultivated ground is somewhat different in Thailand 
Whilst the turf gives the soil structure, it is also planted for a number of other reasons. As the welfare of the elephants at 
It has been tough work planting the turf, but worth the effort as we are really starting to visualise what this superb ecologically sensitive re-creation will look like and where the elephants will roam. Here is Ollie’s 41-second video of the new-laid turf:
You can help us make it happen. Please just click here.
Please come back next week to read another blog post on our next endeavours on site!
Because of this, before the next stage of laying the turf, it has been necessary to equip the site with sufficient irrigation and drainage. As the weather is naturally unpredictable, the irrigation was installed as a backup for any prolonged dry spell.
It was vital to select the correct sized water pump and this was then connected to a water supply linked to source of the pools. These pipes were then directed up and along the slope by the pools to where the turf is planted, with specially-designed holes to regulate the release of water along the pipe. With the drainage, we have to ensure the site does not flood as this could lead to erosion of the loose, freshly-moved soil, and damage to the turf by over saturating it. We had 25 sections of large concrete drainage pipes delivered and installed in order to prevent this soil run-off and flooding.
If you can help us with this practical and essential infrastructure work, please do. The elephants deserve the best. You can donate if you click here.
But do come back next week to read about the next stage of progress on the Ban Ton Sae site!
Since completing the clearance of the land, there are some piles of consolidated vegetation debris that still need to be removed. It is now a race against time before the rains come. Having the 
The work has included reducing the gradient and undulation of the land by filling in the ditches, discovered around the land when it was cleared, and regrading the slopes with excess soil, in order to allow the elephants to more easily freely roam. In turn, this also will help the workers when it comes to the next stage on the site – laying the turf.
We can just begin to visualise what the ‘new jungle’ will look like and Lee says he can imagine our elephants drinking, bathing and splashing in the pond area. Can you help us finish the work?
Please try and help if you can by clicking here.
Come back next week, to read another blog post on the new site’s progress!
