Li Ning, Communications, Species Programme at WWF-China

How did Li Ning come to work for WWF?

"I trained as an English teacher and afterwards, went to work for a company. But I didn’t feel very satisfied there as I felt that everyone was working just for the money."

So in 1997, Li Ning joined WWF-China and since then, has met many people - from government officials to villagers and ordinary farmers. "This job," says Li Ning, "has not only provided me with an opportunity to be close to nature and wildlife but it’s also given me the opportunity to be close to people, to learn more about my own country and to learn more about life. This is something I value very much."

Since WWF-China was established in 1996, the number of WWF staff has grown very quickly. "When I joined, there were 7 or 8 people working for WWF in China," says Li Ning. "Now there are 38!”

This reflects, perhaps, some of the other changes throughout the country. “We have seen a lot of changes in China from the Government perspective,” explains Li Ning. “For instance the logging ban in 1998. And for ordinary people, environmental awareness has increased tremendously in the last few years. In fact, these days it seems that environmental issues are everybody’s topic. And we see it as a very promising sign that people are starting to care about their environment.”

Have you  ever seen a panda in the wild?

"Oh yes," laughs Li Ning. "It was very exciting. It was December and very cold in the mountains. The Reserve’s generator had broken down and there was no heating.

I was working on a project plan with two consultants and then suddenly one of the reserve’s rangers came to us saying 'Oh we found a panda - do you want to see it?' Of course, we said, and just dropped everything and ran after him, up into the mountains.

To begin with, we couldn’t see anything because the mountains were partly covered in snow and there were still patches that were dark grey, which matched perfectly with the colours of the panda. So the Park ranger told us to look at the bamboo to try to see where it was shaking...and then we found him!

He was sitting behind the bamboo and breaking it off and eating it. Even though he was far away on the other side of the mountain, still that excitement cannot be described. And we were just standing in the cold, maybe half an hour, just watching him eat. It was a wonderful experience..."