01/09/2026
🌏 At SAK WoodWorks, We Believe In Responsible Material Sourcing!
🌳 Spotlight: FIO & Elephant Programs 🐘
When you buy Sakwood sustainable teak, your purchase does much more than enrich your home and business. Through ethical consumerism, each purchase we buy has the opportunity to make the world a better place.
Every Sakwood teak product is sourced entirely from FIO plantations. In addition to growing sustainable teak, the FIO also operates legendary programs to care for elephants. Purchasing teak from the FIO supports the organization, whose funds also go to elephants!
How does the FIO use its funds to contribute to elephant welfare? Let's find out!
In the 1980s when the historic logging bans took effect, thousands of logging elephants and their handlers (mahouts) suddenly lost their jobs. Desperate for income, many handlers took their elephants to major cities like Bangkok to beg for food from tourists, where the animals suffered immensely.
The FIO stepped in to stop this mistreatment and took a leading role in rescuing and managing them. To protect these beloved creatures, the FIO promotes sustainable ecotourism to provide jobs for mahouts, funds medical care, and ensures that elephants are shown proper love and care.
Run by the FIO, the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), was founded in northern Thailand and houses 50-120 elephants, operates a working hospital, and gives refuge to retired and injured animals. Revenues from eco-tourism are used to fund elephant hospitals and mobile vet clinics that treat sick elephants all over Thailand for free. The country now has multiple elephant hospitals, which are heavily supported by the FIO to provide veterinary treatment.
To fundamentally change the culture, the FIO/TECC established a school to educate young mahouts. A major part of the curriculum focuses on elephant psychology, compassionate handling, and rewards-based training. Strict rules were instituted which prohibited the violent use of hooks to strike or punish elephants. The TECC became a leading advocate in Thailand for shifting training away from punishment and dominance-based methods toward positive reinforcement. This method teaches mahouts how to manage massive animals through voice commands and trust rather than relying on aggression and inflicting pain.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) joined the efforts, and together the FAO and the FIO published the "Elephant Care Manual for Mahouts and Camp Managers." This manual sets the standards for health, nutrition, and treatment of elephants.
Aside from domesticated elephants, the FIO supports national efforts to protect wild populations. Wild elephants sometimes wander into villages or farms to find food. To help this situation, natural habitats are restored where the elephants can live, trees are planted on park borders, and salt licks are set up to keep wild elephants well-fed and safely inside forest reserves.
🐘Follow this link to check out the TECC page and fall in love with the resident elephants!
https://www.facebook.com/share/19VGLfVngG/
🌳Click here to browse all Sakwood Teak products, sourced exclusively from the FIO! From tables and countertops to walls and floors, sustainable Sakwood teak is a purchase you can feel good about!
https://sakwood.com/en
