Brett Jenks, Rare’s CEO, blogs about his trip to Asia, where he visited Pride campaigns taking place in China and Indonesia. Follow Brett’s adventures as he witnesses local conservation efforts to protect endangered species in Asia and shares how the Pride campaign model can support lasting conservation impact in this part of the world.
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The journey to Meili Snow Mountain began on the 7th. Nigel, Shiyang, and two of our guests – Ligang Jin and Lei Shen – all flew from Kunming to Shangri La.
For us it was simply a nice airport and the jumping off point for a very long day. We picked up our other two guests – Rare’s first Asia-based board member Ruth Yeoh and her boyfriend Ken Khaw, who had flown in the night before from Malaysia and Singapore – and headed to Degin, the municipal capital and location of The Nature Conservancy’s regional office.
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Other than perhaps the Andes, I’ve never driven on more breathtaking roads. Peaks at 18-20,000 feet all around. A road that eventually winds its way up to a height of 4290 meters (14,000 feet). And countless bends where the wrong turn or an oncoming vehicle could mean an instantaneous thousand foot plunge.
In addition to keeping a healthy digestive system, the new goal became “get home without driving off a cliff.”
Jianzhong Ma, who is Rare’s senior advisor for the Meili Snow Mountain project, is a man of many talents. Tibetan by birth, he is a forestry expert, a community development practitioner and a former fellow at Columbia University. He’s on staff at the Yunnan Forestry Scientific Research Institute, and he’s one of the architects of Rare and TNC’s green building project. He’s also a great story teller, and I’ve decided he’s my guide for the trip. Here’s his description of the Tibetan prayer flags at 14,000 feet:
Upon arrival in Deqin, we are quickly whisked into The Nature Conservancy’s local office to meet all of Rare’s Pride partners in the region. This includes the TNC staff and several representatives of the Deqin (“day chin”) County Environmental Protection Bureau. After all of the beautiful vistas and a full-day’s drive, I was treated to the requisite PowerPoint that highlights TNC’s China program and the Rare Pride campaign strategy. With jet lag and a day of car sickness competing with the high altitude, it was tough to take in all the information, but it’s pretty easy to see why this work is so exciting. (And fortunately, Shiyang and her China team had already given me a long briefing). Looking forward to diving in further.
>>Rare CEO Visits Asia – Arrival in Beijing
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