Drawing on the lessons learned from the Last Great Places initiative and guided by scientific data from the Natural Heritage Network, The Nature Conservancy in 1996 adopted Conservation by Design as its framework for identifying areas that need to be preserved for the long-term survival of all viable native species and communities. Under this cutting-edge approach, the conservancy is developing a Conservation Blueprint for every ecoregion around the world.
An example of the scope of this approach is the Yunnan Great Rivers Project initiated by The Nature Conservancy in 1998 with China’s Yunnan provincial government. In the Yunnan, China’s farthest frontier, four of Asia’s great rivers merge between isolating mountains that support some of China’s last primary forests and fabled species, including about 10 percent of the world’s bird species and endangered animals such as the snow leopard and golden monkey.
The project’s goal is to protect the remarkable biodiversity of the Yunnan, an area the size of West Virginia. The conservancy is providing the provincial government with strategic guidance, technical expertise and helping it acquire international funding. In one such project, we are working with the Naxi and Yi people of the Lashihai and Wenhai villages to develop community-based ecotourism. In Meilixueshan, a mountainous area of extraordinary biodiversity straddling the Yunnan-Tibet border, the Conservancy has initiated a long-term partnership with the Deqin County government to develop a comprehensive conservation and development plan for the next 100 years.
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