Instilling A Respect For Wildlife
How a Buddhist nun in Thailand is protecting tigers and elephants
The jungles of Kanchanaburi province in western Thailand are well-known for their wildlife, especially elephants and tigers. Many communities here believe that amulets made of ivory and tiger fangs have the power to bring good luck and prevent harm. However, elephants and tigers are endangered species threatened with extinction.
The Venerable Jutipa Thappasuth, a local Buddhist nun, has made it her personal mission to teach and remind young people to respect all life. After attending a USAID workshop last year, she learned how spiritual leaders can help reduce the demand for wildlife products among their followers. Through the four-day moral and ethical training camps she organizes, she has engaged more than 100 children, youth, teachers, and community members on this topic, instilling respect for the life of wild animals like elephants and tigers.
“It is quite challenging to organize activities in communities where people like ivory or tiger talismans or amulets, which they think bring protection or good luck,” she said.
“My strategy is to introduce children and youth early to the law of karma and the consequences of breaking the precepts to discourage killing animals or consuming products made from wildlife products. In turn, children are very good at reminding their parents about these things.”
Venerable Jutipa also works with community schools located around the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area, to promote the well-being of wildlife. The sanctuary is part of the largest forest tract remaining in Southeast Asia, which is called the Western Forest Complex and comprises 4.4 million acres in western Thailand near the Burma border. Protected areas and national parks along this border are believed to contain the largest surviving populations of tigers in Thailand.
The High Cost of Wildlife Crime
Wildlife crime not only endangers biodiversity, but also threatens global and national security while undermining local livelihoods and food security.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the risk of spillover zoonotic diseases that comes with the illegal wildlife trade, threatening human well-being and the global economy.
Growing regional wealth in Southeast Asia and China has increased the demand for wildlife products, making the region a hotspot for wildlife trafficking.
Thailand is not only a transit point but a significant consumer country for wildlife products. A USAID study revealed that roughly 750,000 respondents in Thailand expressed the intent to buy and use wildlife products. The survey revealed that one key driver of consumption is spiritual beliefs in the power of ivory and tiger amulets.
USAID’s Spiritual Beliefs Campaign Makes a Difference
In October 2019, USAID launched the Spiritual Beliefs campaign in partnership with Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP). The campaign used social and behavior change communication tools to reduce the demand for wildlife products and used data from the USAID study to determine the best way to reach wildlife consumers and potential buyers.
The project produced billboards and posters that were shown in bus shelters, sidewalk ads, printed newspapers, and amulet magazines, as well as videos for Facebook and Instagram, targeted amulet websites, and online news outlets.
USAID has also partnered with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) and engaged around 100 Thai spiritual leaders in a series of workshops since 2020 to champion the campaign in their communities. Many of the spiritual leaders who attended the workshops have since undertaken community actions, including elephant conservation projects — building salt licks, wells, and dikes in the forest as food and water sources for wild elephants — and telling children folk tales promoting animal conservation.
In a follow-up workshop in June, Venerable Jutipa and the other spiritual leaders fine-tuned their proposals for more effective and sustainable community actions.
USAID is continuing the Spiritual Beliefs campaign and other joint USAID-DNP wildlife reduction campaigns in Thailand that have significantly reduced the demand for, and the social acceptability of buying or using, wildlife products.
A recent online survey conducted by USAID to assess the impact of the USAID and DNP joint campaigns found that over a two-year period, the proportion of respondents exposed to these campaigns who stated that they will buy ivory products in the future decreased by 42%, while respondents who say they will buy tiger products fell by 26%. The survey also revealed that the respondents had the highest recall for the campaign featuring monks and other social influencers.
The new wave of campaigns by influential Buddhist spiritual leaders will reach and engender more communities to examine these deeply entrenched beliefs that are driving the consumption of wildlife products in Thailand.
About the Author
Dorelyn Jose is the Communication and Outreach Specialist for USAID Reducing Demand for Wildlife project.
