Camboya

·amura· 103 conservancy • conservación Elephant Valley Project The Ethos sanctuary is located in the Mondulkiri Province; it spans 300,000 h of protected for- est, out of which, 1,500 are destined to be home to the elephants. The program’s main goal is to allow elephants to live in a stress-free habitat. This process has taken 10 years, during which, routine treatments have been developed, with participating volunteers, and through which visitors are able to interact with the elephants in a responsible manner. The program’s main job is to make sure that nothing interferes with their feeding, and that they are not forced into activities that go against their nature, such as having people mounting them or swimming with them—usual conducts within traditional tourism, to which thousands of elephants are estimated to be submitted globally. Proyecto del Valle de los Elefantes El santuario Ethos está situado en la provincia de Mondul Kiri, tiene 300,000 h de bosque protegido, de las cuales, 1500 están destinadas para ser el hogar de los elefantes. El objetivo principal de este programa es permitir que los elefantes vivan en un hábitat libre de estrés. Este proceso les ha tomado 10 años, tiempo durante el cual han desarrollado tratamientos de rutina donde participan volun- tarios y donde los propios visitantes interactúan con los elefantes de manera responsable. Princi- palmente cuidan que no se realicen prácticas que interfieran con su alimentación, y que no se les obligue a realizar actividades ajenas a su naturale- za, como montarlos o nadar con ellos –conductas usuales en los espacios para el turismo tradicional, al que se estiman están sometidos miles de ele- fantes globalmente. “Save the elephants, and then you save the forest—and then you save yourself.” Mark Shand