Our Mission
Elephants are sacred in the cultures of Asia - through film, social media, science and spiritual understanding, we serve as a channel to bridge modern concepts with old traditions. Our goal is to provide support for the protection of elephants and their wild habitats.
SavingGanesh.org provides a platform for this diverse group to apply their unique skill sets, and through collaborative spirit, we are empowered to improve the welfare of elephants by empowering the communities that live alongside of them with the awareness and tools to do so. For greater details about current projects, please go here.
Why We Fight
There are over 250,000 African elephants in the world, but only 25,000 Asian elephants remaining and of those, there are only 4,000 Sri Lankan elephants (a subspecies) remaining. The biggest threat to Asian elephants is habitat loss and resulting crop raiding by the displaced elephants. Villagers have to stay up all night to try to defend their crops and many people lose homes and crops, and elephants….their lives. Our primary aim is stop habitat encroachment, while educating villagers methods of co-existence. Otherwise, extinction of wild elephants is a certainty.
Our Approach
Integrating with locals - villagers, rangers, farmers and spiritual leaders is the way we approach our work. We collaborate with monks and nuns to produce karmic cleansings at the most sacred temples. We also bring healthcare services to locals that are most challenged in coexisting with elephants. Thru this, we establish quality relationships.
Similarly, we embed ourselves with government rangers and veterinarians. For over 20 years we have provided a platform for talented filmmakers, writers and scientists to join us as produced documentary films and social media for our quarter million followers on social media. Our average weekly reach on Facebook is over 20,000. When we have new videoblogs, we often reach 500,000/week. This is more than small market television channels! Policy makers see our videos and oftentimes will call upon us for suggestions on improvement of elephant management. View our campaigns, here.
History
In 1998 our Executive Producer, Philip Price, was film assistant on “Elephants of Paradise.” This film resulted in documenting actual events around elephant translocations. Philip fell in love with Sri Lanka’s culture and elephants. After reviewing the film, the ministry radically shook up the wildlife department by hiring a multitude of wildlife vets. Untold elephant lives have been saved as a result, proving the power of documentary film. Nearly ten years ago, Philip founded GeoWandering Tours, and then SavingGanesh.org after witnessing the horrendous loss of Asian elephants .
Our Actions/past & now
We’ve led the pack - helping stop Ringling Bros from elephant exploitation, modifying operations at Pinnawala elephant orphanage, documenting sickness of garbage dump elephants, impacts of the Moragahakanda Dam and the industrialization of South Sri Lanka near Hambantota. We innovated the Wind Torch - a scarecrow-like device used to keep elephants out of cultivated fields and refined a safe sound cannon as well. We’ve also gifted an abundance of necessary tools to rangers, vets and government officials to improve their fieldwork. We honor the rangers and vets that are on the line of human/elephant conflict and produce videos to bring the recognition they deserve. Details Here:
Our Actions:
Outreach
Ganesh Project
SavingGanesh.org is anchored in America’s yoga, art and healing scene. Our associates are nourished - mind, body and soul, from associations with Hanuman, Bhakti, SoulPlay and other festivals. We are especially integrated into Burning Man, where we host a popular theme camp for yogis, kirtan musicians, artists and healers. We are event makers, maintaining an inventory of festival equipment, trucks and trailers; our ready crew is available to assemble circus tents, shade structures, sound systems and lighting. Most of our volunteers and colleagues discovered SavingGanesh.org through our public outreach at these events. To learn more about our events, please go here.
Our Actions/New -
Humanitarian Project
Villagers and farmers are challenged in their co-existence with elephants. Crop raiding occurs nightly for some farmers who must stay up all night to protect their fields. Their bodies and spirit often suffer. While our organization battles to save the elephants from harm, we feel it’s also our obligation to do the right thing on the human side of this equation. Thus, our Humanitarian Project serves this intent. Our healthcare volunteers offer their services to the communities challenged by human/elephant conflict. In so doing, we also engage them in conversation about their challenges and how to overcome them. We all win, elephants, villagers and our conservation goals. Further, we tie these efforts into the local temples, while hosting karmic cleansing events and community gathering. Go Here for more information about healthcare services. Please go Here for information about Karmic Reset/Cleansing and here for details about healthcare services.
Global Activism, Outreach
Activating the Yoga Communities: Climate change is the essential issue of our times. There are many causes and effects of climate change, but at the root of them all is our relationship to mother earth and to all of nature. The yoga tradition along with other indigenous wisdom traditions has long held a deep reverence and understanding of a living and conscious Mother Earth (Bhumi Devi). That we are all entwined with Her; physically, energetically, mentally & spiritually; we are all her children. Now, more than ever, we must awaken and act for ourselves, future generations, and all of life. Both as individuals and as a community, we must become more aware of our actions and choices and how they affect the web of life, and recognize what we can all do to become earth activists, raise awareness, and join the global revolution for conscious change and planetary awakening for everyone. The time is now. (from Hanuman Festival, 2019)
Filmmaking
EDUCATION THRU FILMMAKING
Our goal is to educate the masses about the threats endangering the Asian Elephants, as well as the challenges faced by local villagers and farmers. As conservationists, we long ago determined that documentary film and social media is the contemporary way to effect cultural change. Our crews range from beginners to veterans; from interns and students to the merely curious. At any level, and with any skill set, we provide the platform for you to either learn, or ply your trade. We’ve produced over 100 films in the past few years - videoblogs, and documentary shorts are the contemporary genre.
We are a group of impassioned individuals, including volunteer filmmakers, veterinarians, wildlife biologist, naturalists and sustainable scientists.
SavingGanesh.org provides a platform for this diverse group to apply their unique skill sets, and through collaborative spirit, we are empowered to improve the welfare of elephants by empowering the communities that live alongside of them with the awareness and tools to do so. We maintain ElephantTV on YouTube, see our Playlist.
The Meaning of
“Saving Ganesh”
Like the elephant, Ganesh is legendary for breaking thru obstacles. Many cross-cultural people recognize that the power of Ganesh can be summoned to break thru destructive patterns! It is legendary!
Let us All call upon Ganesh to save us from ourselves! Ganesh is the most Universal of Deities. His/her power bridges cultures as no Other!
It is our (SavingGanesh.org) belief that modern conservation efforts are failing, if not tied to a spiritual understanding of the sacredness of All life.
We must transcend our greed and selfishness by empowering the legendary strength of Ganesh. We believe that to save our planet, we need an awakening — combining secular transcendent curiosities (ie: New Age, pseudoscience, mindfulness movements), cognitive sciences, with business and political leadership. With religious-like fervor, we must replace individual greed, supplanting the predominate paradigm, with community-serving values.
The methods used in the past by conservation organizations is not working! They continue to soak up funding and energies — feeding a failed system.
This IS the power of Ganesh!