Staff Blog :Participants share their feeling on WWF x TOYOTA trip to Kui Buri National Park.
2020/09/26
WWF-Thailandbroughtreporters and bloggers to learn about wildlife photography tips from experienced photographer team from FullFrame at Kui Buri National Park, in Prachuap Khiri Khan province between 7 –8 August 2020 and get to know more about conservation works taken underthe global partnership “LivingAsianForest”with Toyota Motor Corporation.
One of the participants told us thatthe trip finally dawned on him how challenging and difficult it is for wildlife photographers to capture the unpredictable moments in the wildenvironment.“This is the first trip ofmylife that I got a chance to see‘gaurs’ up close. During the trip, I also learned about the wild photography tips from FullFrame and made lots of friends from the trip.”
The group activities ranged from helping to make a salt lick, cleaning a watering hole for wild animals,and taking a 2-km trail with a park ranger fromKui Buri National Park. The rangersexplained to the participants how to recognize and identify animal trackswhile roaming in the forest.
Baramee Temboonkiat, one of Thailand’s leading wildlife photographers and our mentor for this trip, has witnessed the change,whichoccurred over the past decades in the forest of Kui Buri National Park. However, hisfeeling for the unique beauty of the forest never left him and still brings him back to the forest almost every year.
“In the past, we were free to go wherever we wanted to take a photograph of animals. There was no human–wildlife coexistence management planbefore. So, the conflicts happened very often. Unlike today, villagers livingin thecommunity forests are involved in eco-tourism and understand the benefits from the opportunity. Local residents become tour guides. Now the tourists are more aware of howto travelsustainably.They also take part in the park’s conservation activities such as building salt licks and watering holes for animals.”
We thank the director-general of the Kui Buri National Park and all park rangers, wildlife photographers from Full Frame, reporters, bloggers and photographers who joined us!
