Bringing elephants home to the forest
Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation provides long-term, community-led stewardship support that helps Asian elephants leave commercial tourism camps and return to free-roaming forest habitat in Northern Thailand.
Coffee helps keep the forest standing. The Foundation helps bring elephants home to it.
Wild Nomad Elephant Commons and Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation share a mission, but they are separate organizations. Wild Nomad Elephant Commons is the coffee business, working directly with Karen farming communities to create livelihoods around coffee grown beneath existing forest canopy. Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation is an Oregon nonprofit created to support charitable elephant stewardship and education programs.
Why elephants left the forest:
The Karen people of Northern Thailand have cared for elephants for generations. As forests disappeared and traditional livelihoods changed, many elephant-owning families were left with few financially viable ways to support their elephants at home. Commercial tourism became one of the few reliable sources of income, and many elephants continue to live in tourism camps today.
The problem isn't a lack of connection between families and their elephants. It's a lack of dependable alternatives.
How the Elephant Stewardship Program works:
Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation provides reliable, long-term stewardship support to participating elephant-owning families so they can bring their elephants out of commercial tourism and care for them in forest habitat.
Mahouts remain with the elephants, monitoring their movements and helping guide them away from farms, villages, roads, and other areas where encounters can create risk for elephants and people. This ongoing stewardship supports elephant welfare while helping reduce human-elephant conflict.
The families continue to own and care for their elephants. The Foundation's role is to help make a life outside commercial tourism financially possible.
Two elephants. One full year in the forest.
Our initial goal is to fund one year of stewardship for two elephants. The program provides 15,000 THB per elephant each month, approximately $470 at our current planning rate. A fundraising goal of $11,250 provides one full year of support for both elephants.
Monthly donations are especially meaningful because stewardship is an ongoing commitment. Families need to know that support will still be there next month, and the month after that.
501(c)(3) status: Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation is an Oregon nonprofit public benefit corporation. Our application for recognition as a 501(c)(3) public charity has been submitted to the IRS and is currently pending. Donors do not have advance assurance of tax deductibility while the application is pending; if the IRS approves our application, qualifying contributions will generally be deductible retroactive to the Foundation’s formation date.
One mission, two organizations
Wild Nomad Elephant Commons
Coffee • Agroforestry • Farmer partnerships • Importing and roasting • Conservation immersions
Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation
Charitable donations • Elephant Stewardship Program • Education Access Program
The organizations maintain separate bank accounts, books, governance, and finances. Donations made to Wild Nomad Elephant Foundation are used for the Foundation’s charitable purposes and do not fund the operations of Wild Nomad Elephant Commons LLC.