Myanmar has the largest population of captive elephants in the world – approximately 5 thousand. Since the time of the British in Burma, captive elephants have predominantly worked in the timber industry. When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration came to power in 2015, a 10-year ban was put on all logging so to stem the effects of deforestation. This may have been good for the environment, but what then to do with all the out-of-work elephants?

Tourism was one option – but itself came with a raft of problems. The treatment of elephants in some tourist camps in other parts of Asia showed the industry was often no friend to the welfare of elephants.

Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp was set up in 2011. Situated just outside of Kalaw in southern Shan State, the camp displayed how tourism and elephant welfare could work in synergy. The camp was about education, not entertainment, and the health and happiness of the elephants was paramount.

Tourists flocked to the camp. In 2018, Green Hill Valley shared a stage with Sampan Travel as we were both awarded for our commitment to sustainable tourism. Business was good and the future was bright.

In March 2020 COVID put a halt to tourism in Myanmar. In 2021 the military seized power. Green Hill Valley, like the rest of the country, was suffering under a “double crisis”.

As part of Sampan’s membership fee for The Conscious Travel Foundation, at the beginning of 2022 we made a donation to Green Hill Valley to help them support not just their elephants but also the mahouts (‘oozies’ in Burmese) that look after them. Our team visited the camp in May 2022. We were shown around by the operations manager Ko Saw and the co-founder and resident veterinarian Sayar Ba. There we met three of the camp’s mahouts (Zaw Win, Thein Zaw and Thura Phyo) and their three remaining elephants: Htun Ma Ma (the matriarch), Hnin Sit Wai (the sensitive one, still displaying a gunshot wound on her left flank), and Pho Chit (the teenage prankster).

The camp opens to visitors upon request. Some of the staff have set up a roadside café not far from their camp where they are able to bring in a little bit of income to sustain themselves.

One of the founders, Daw Tin Win Maw, was currently in Chiang Mai meeting with friends in the elephant community. We spoke to her on Zoom and asked started by asking us to tell us about how Green Hill Valley came into being …

It started in 2011. Three of us, my uncle (a veterinarian of elephants), my husband (Tun Tun Win) and myself. Three of us collaborated together to establish a responsible elephant camp in Myanmar. Myanmar is a country where we have a huge number of timber elephants. Our family background is coming from the timber industry. Both my uncle and my father were working under the Ministry of Forestry, working for the logging side with the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE). My father was working for them for over thirty years, and my uncle was working for elephants who work for [the] Myanmar Timber Enterprise for many years.

My father and my uncle were always attached to these timber elephants. I grew up with these timber elephants since I was very little. My attachment to elephants started since I was 4 or 5 years old.

After working in [the] tourism industry for almost twenty years, my husband and I started to think of doing some responsible programme in our country with the elephants we love. Of course, with the help of my uncle who is an expert in veterinary experience of elephants. My uncle was really interested, throughout his life he has spent time with elephants. He told us you have to be patient, working with elephants is not a kind of ‘high business’, it is a challenging business all over the world. You cannot do [it] without the passion. I said to my uncle: ‘Let’s do that challenge!’

So our challenge started in 2010. In 2011 [the] three of us managed to set up the elephant camp with two elephants only. It was the first challenge, the first step – to introduce tourism with the ethical, responsible approach to elephants.

It was a big big challenge in our country, because in the beginning they [tourists] were expecting to kind of get a photograph tour, a circus tour or riding tour. But we said ‘no no no’ – we want to share our information, we want to share our knowledge, it is a kind of educational programme, an awareness programme for our people [via] income of international tourism.

Our challenge was a success, support[ed] by international tourism and travel agencies around the entire country. We tried to promote tourism in the proper way. So this is the challenge – and we took it. To let the people see how we can introduce elephant tourism in a sustainable way.

And then the second step, we negotiated with the ministry, with the Myanmar Timber Enterprise. There were many many [government] elephants who were disabled, who were retired, who need[ed] proper care. Because elephant management in our country is still under progress: because of the budget, because of the education and because of the system of the country. Elephants have never been on the top of the country’s priorities, because the country needs a lot of things: the country needs electricity, infrastructure, transportation … So we want to focus on elephants, and with the effort of [us] private people, we can do it. We did not get any support from government, we did not get any support from foundation[s], we only got support from the income of international tourism.

We managed to hire disabled elephants from the government sector. We paid annual rental fees to the government. The government got money from Green Hill Valley and they have less responsibility to care for these disabled elephants. We brought them and we let them participate in our daily care programme and our visitors – international tourists – looked after these elephants [through the] income [by] supporting Green Hill Valley.

That’s how Green Hill Valley was …

Until 2021 we paid annual rental fees to the government for these disabled elephants. Our passion for elephants is still the same, we love them, but since [the] 2021/22 budget we could no longer pay rental fees [due to the halt in tourism]. [Also] our family think it is no longer fair to pay rental fees to the [current] government. We used to have eight elephants before but after we let [three] elephants return to the government and two elephants died during the first wave of COVID, so we have three elephants left.

Our passion continues to care for these elephants and the families behind these elephants. Because when taking care of retired elephants, you cannot care for elephants only, you must also look after the people that take care of the elephants – the mahouts. Elephants and mahouts they are like husband and wife – they look after each other. So our main focus now at Green Hill Valley is supporting the mahouts and the elephants as a first priority.

What is the situation of the captive elephants in Myanmar outside of Green Hill Valley?

Outside Green Hill Valley [there are] 4 to 5 thousand elephants in captivity. Over 3,000 captive elephants belong to government and about 2,000 belong to private [owners]. The rest of the over 1,000 elephants are in the wild – they are roaming in the wild.

So let’s talk about captive elephants [owned privately]. Each elephant has at least one mahout. Mahouts and elephants have to work together. If you have a cat or dog, you need to take care of your pet. So, in the same way, elephants in captivity have mahouts. Some they use for festivals or social activities like novitiation [when a boy or man enters a monastery to become a monk], some they use for riding to carry the goods for transportation. For example, in Kachin State, most elephants are involved in agriculture.

But mainly, two thirds of captive elephants, are used for logging – both legal and illegal. Most people in Asia, they use the elephant power to drag the logs. Government elephants [in Myanmar] are all used for logging.

And here is one of the biggest challenges with elephants in Myanmar. The traditional work of elephants in Myanmar is logging – but deforestation in Myanmar is a huge problem. So much so that the previous government – Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy administration – put a 10-year ban on logging. Which may be good for the environment but put a lot of elephants out of work. This was the reason that we have seen more MTE elephant tourism camps open since 2015. But there is no tourism now, so what are all these elephants doing?

They are logging! Because the [current] government needs money! Yes, during the time of the previous government they stopped logging – but just in the newspaper. Law is only in the newspapers sometimes. The previous government was not powerful. They could not do what they wanted to do. They only issued the law and regulation but many were not following … Now [the current government] need money so they use elephants again in the logging camp.

The elephants we returned back to MTE from Green Hill Valley [are] in logging camps now. How [do] they feel? They are social animals. They were at Green Hill Valley for ten years, without working, retired … One elephant, now she [is] completely blind [in] both eyes. When she arrived at Green Hill Valley, she was one-eye blind. Now she is two-eyes blind. I always listen to the news of our elephants. My uncle feels sad. It is too much work. These [elephants] are not suitable for work. But, they use them …

And what about the privately-owned working elephants?

People can use elephants for their income, because without their income they cannot look after these elephants. But, how will you care for the welfare of your elephant? How will you care for the health condition of your elephant? If you are getting money with your elephant, you need to take your responsibilities to use some money back for the elephant.

You never know whether [the private owners] really care for these elephants. It is very had to say because these are behind the scenes. It [goes back to] the system and the law enforcement and the regulations of the Ministry of Forestry. It is a long-term plan for our country. But for the short-term, we need to give education to the community where we live.

We used to set up a mobile clinic. My uncle, Sayar Ba, he always looked around to the area where the privately-owned elephants are, so we share the medical treatment with these elephants. Normally we go to Karen [Kayin] State, now we cannot go there. Kayin State has a lot of privately-owned elephants, they are working in Thailand for tourism camps. Whenever they are in the off-season, the rainy season, they come back to Myanmar and they will do logging. In peak season, they go back to Thailand and work there. [To these] privately-owned elephants we used to give medical care, now we can no longer give. Not only because of the political [situation] but because of the funding. We have no income from tourism so we cannot do the medical treatment for the rest of the elephants like before.

I met two of your mahouts yesterday at Green Hill Valley. Can you tell us a little bit about the relationship between the elephant and their mahout? Have they been working with elephants since they were children? Were their fathers mahouts as well?

Generally the relationship between mahout and elephant is very close because they grew up with elephants. The children of oozies grow up in the village where the logging camps are nearby. So they learn how the elephants are doing logging, they learn from their parents, they learn from their big brothers. The oozies at Green Hill Valley, they learnt from their uncles, they learnt from their fathers, they learnt from their big brothers, so they became oozies.

Also, without the passion for elephants, they could not work. Some children are not interested in the life of the oozie. They learn, they study, and they work in different fields.

What is the sustainable future for elephants in Myanmar? You have over 5,000 captive elephants. Logging is not environmentally sustainable. What is the solution? How do you look after these elephants into the future?

Before we had many many workshops with the international community for captive elephants and the wildlife [wild elephants]. WWF [were] always involved, the Smithsonian Institution, Asian Elephant Foundation … there were many. But we could not find out the proper solution for captive elephants in Myanmar because of the country’s regulation and the situation of elephants in our country.

To tell you the truth, in our country we still have pasture areas – habitat area for elephants. [If] we can conserve these areas … Because everything is connected:  the environmental impact of deforestation and elephant conservation. Deforestation [management] and elephant conservation needs to [be done] together otherwise you cannot conserve the elephants in the proper way.

Our way of elephant care is not like in Thailand, not like in Indonesia, not like in Sri Lanka. In Thailand, many captive elephants just stay [in] the camp, they cannot roam [in] the wild area. In our country, the traditional way, the way that we are caring for elephants is that every day after work they roam in the forest for the whole night. If they don’t have work the next day they still enjoy continuously. Free roaming in our country is much much better than in other Asian countries. It is why the elephant population is increasing. As long as they are enjoying in the nature, they have more happy time. But if there is deforestation, unofficially or officially, they will have no habitat left. At that time, there will be a problem for elephants.

We still don’t have a proper solution yet. With the difficult political situation, the future of elephants in our country will get worse and worse. This is my personal opinion.

International donors and elephant lovers will not come to Myanmar because they don’t feel secure; they don’t feel OK to support the country. That is another issue.

Let’s end on that issue. It is possible that before the situation is stable in Myanmar, tourist visas will be issued once more. Many will not come, but some will. Do you support tourism to Myanmar at this time? Is responsible tourism possible?

International tourists can let the world know what is happening in Myanmar. If the situation is safe for these travellers, why not welcome these international tourists? Also domestic tourists. We will be very happy because our main income is relying on tourism. We always worry about the tourism situation in the country. We worry not only about the business but also about the people who rely on tourism. Working in tourism you see many impacts connected to each other: hotels, airlines, restaurants, our elephant camp … not only the elephants but also the mahouts and the community.

So, if the situation of tourism is in good shape, Green Hill Valley will always open the door for every visitor. That is the way we want to share our passion.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Visit the road side café and the camp.