Congressional Staff Briefing: The World's Most Diplomatically Challenging Creatures - Igor Chestin

11-8-2007

Dr. Igor Chestin, CEO, World Wildlife Fund Russia

Partner: World Wildlife Fund

Conservation is at least as much about people as it is about Science. In most cases, understanding the science is the easy part of the equation. The challenges come from changing the behaviors and decision making of people. Saving endangered species is a delicate process, and nowhere is this more true than in the Russian Far East.

There is a humble knoll in Russia's Primorsky Krai where you can throw a stone south into North Korea and southwest into China. The fate of the world's most endangered large cat -- the Amur leopard -- depends on the forests that cover that knoll and the surrounding 1,000,000 acres. Only 40 of these majestic felines survive. Saving these cats certainly involves science, but it also depends on striking a deal within Russia, between Russia and China, and among Russia, China, and North Korea. To make matters worse for the Amur leopard -- but better and more interesting for conservation -- the forty leopards need to share this region with their largest cousin, the Amur, or Siberian tiger.

Igor Chestin, CEO of WWF Russia, spoke about his experiences at the helm of an NGO in a country only recently exposed to democracy. He discussed the plight of the tiger and leopard and provided insight into conducting conservation work with neighbors like China and North Korea.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Igor
• Chestin
• World
• Wildlife
• Fund
• Russia
• Amur
• Leopard
• endangered species
• conservation
• conflict
• international relations
• biodiversity
• natural security