Darron joined several Mongolian colleagues on an expedition along the Onon River, the headwater river that feeds the Amur. The team was tasked with assessing the management effectiveness of two key protected areas in those headwaters.
Join Darron on his journey, starting in Washington D.C., and learn more about WWF's work in Mongolia.
Conclusion
Like one of the days toward the opening of our trip, our last day was one occupied by travel, for the simple need to get from point a to point b. Of course we saw about 15,000 Mongolian gazelles as well -- no joke, 15,000. They were a brown, terrestrial version to the enormous flocks of blackbirds that bob and weave through the gusting westerly winds of fall. We'd sleep one more night under the stars and forego the tents all together. Staring down the most spectacular sky of stars that stretched from horizon to horizon to horizon to horizon - the full 360 degrees -- I slept peacefully that night knowing that soon I'd be returning home to my wife and kids. I also slept with the sense that I had just completed one of the most spectacular journeys of my life with one of the most spectacular groups of people.
That group said I snored like a chainsaw.
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I've written these little vignettes with a very lighthearted voice. And that makes perfect sense -- we had a lot of fun on the journey. But make no mistake about it; the challenge of conserving this natural gem is significant and urgent. There are some very real threats that could really turn this spectacular place upside down. We're fortunate that we, as a global community, have some time to act in the headwaters of the Amur watershed and secure a sustainable future for the region and the local people.
I learned a tremendous amount out there -- about the threats, the habitat, the mammals, birds, plants, and invertebrates, about the people who called those forests and steppe home, and about the possibilities for making conservation work. I also came away confident that WWF -- with its great partnerships, global reach, long history in the region, and an extraordinary staff that coordinated across provinces, states, countries, continents, and oceans -- is poised to make great things happen.
To learn more about our conservation efforts in the Amur-Heilong click here, and to learn how you can invest in the future of this region and be a partner in conservation click here.
