Online volunteering to help elephant conservation and research in Sri Lanka

The Asian elephant is currently under threat, and a leading charity is working to protect wild elephants in the heart of Sri Lanka. The charity works with local people to understand the threats posed by the wild elephants, and then collaborates with the local community to mitigate them. Through this inspirational approach, the lives of both humans and elephants have been saved.

To understand the elephant behaviour, there is a huge amount of data that is collected. The charity needs help to analyse the data, sort the data and understand the patterns of the elephant movements. It is possible to do this from home, and you will receive full training and background to the plight of elephants. Additionally, the charity needs help with social media, fundraising, raising awareness.

What online volunteer opportunities are available?

• Asian elephant conservation module: Learn from a researcher about Asian elephants, why they are under threat and what is being done to help them. This is an ideal place to start your volunteering, as you will learn about why the charity exists. This module lasts for 2 weeks with 2 sessions per week.
• Elephant identification: Led by an ecologist, learn about how to identify individual elephants. This is essential to be able to understand how social behaviour drives reproduction, movement, population and social bonds. Once you have learned how to identify elephants, you will be helping to analyse data and contribute towards research. This module lasts for 2 weeks with 2 sessions per week.
• Community volunteering: E-volunteers take part in mitigating human elephant conflicts, helping poor farmers to protect their livelihoods from wild elephants whilst also protecting elephants. Volunteers will learn about conservation efforts on the ground, help with researching the success of those measures and promoting the charity’s work to secure much needed funding via social media, website and emails.