An awareness
problem. Or so
I thought.
In my awareness survey in Anhui, I found that many people knew the distant Siberian tiger, yet did not know the Yangtze finless porpoise living in their own province.
I thought the problem was visibility. If people knew what lived so close to home, perhaps they would care.
First, a coin.
Then, a conversation.
I began by designing a commemorative coin and note, drawing on my love of numismatics. A school talk followed, then a charity sale that raised approximately ¥2,000. I was trying to turn recognition into participation.
Original concept designs, not issued currency. The coin’s “1,249” refers to the earlier survey figure used in the artwork.
Then I went
to the river.
Only later, through site visits and field investigation, did I begin to see what an awareness campaign could not explain.
Conservation depended on more than whether people knew the animal. It also depended on the people doing the work, the support available to them, and the institutions around them.
Conviction needs
support, too.
Not for fame.
Not for profit.Mr. Zhang Bajin’s motivation,
paraphrased from our conversation.
Mr. Zhang Bajin described protection as a matter of belief and responsibility. Yet his annual ¥1,000 government subsidy had been withdrawn, and the science center was in disrepair.
His own commitment endured. I worried about the wider message: if a community’s contribution receives less support, what encourages others to join—or to stay?
One discipline
was not enough.
That was an intellectual turning point for me. Economics helped me think about incentives, but I also needed public policy, local identity, and an understanding of community life.
Back home, I researched and wrote a paper exploring how ecological protection could connect with durable economic and social support. I wanted to address the conditions behind the problem, beyond its visibility.
How can a system support
the people who already care?
THEODORE REVIEW
