Cross-border cooperation between the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province and northern Laos has helped create a solid ecological corridor for habitation by Asian elephants and other wildlife. The Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve administration, the Yunnan Green Environment Development Foundation and the agriculture and forestry department of Laos' Phongsaly province launched a pilot project in 2019 to beef up protection efforts for Asian elephants and raise public awareness about the animal.  Vieng Sack Phommasy, an official from Phongsaly's agriculture and forestry department, said the Yunnan foundation introduced the project to his province because it wanted to enable Lao villagers to participate more in forest resource management, sustainable development and the protection of the Asian elephant and the Greater Mekong region's environment and biodiversity. The province also aimed to further reduce timber consumption, wild animal poaching and the hurting and killing of wild elephants, as well as their interaction with humans.