<p>I see in the pile of mail that our Nature Conservancy annual membership is due for renewal. The good and beautiful thing about charitable organizations is that the majority of them do noble and necessary work. The downside is they tend to send lots of reminders throughout the year that they really, really need my help.</p>
<p>But I am nitpicking. Certainly there is no shortage of urgent, critical needs in the world and the occasional reminders that there are organizations willing to do the work are probably warranted.</p>
<p>It was likely just a coincidence that the Nature Conservancy renewal request came across my radar just after we had been to the IMAX theater to see “Pandas,” a wonderful movie in which that group plays a part. “Pandas” is a documentary about the efforts of animal behavioral scientists to breed giant pandas then nurture the young ones while slowly training them to live on their own in the wild mountains of China.</p>
<p>Most of the movie takes place at the Chengdu Panda Base, a research facility and preserve which has fostered the births of 200 pandas. The facility is situated in the Sichuan province, one of 62 reserves China is attempting to bring together to form a Giant Panda National Park. The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the Chinese to make this dream a reality.</p>
<p>The movie focuses on the attempts to work with one particular female giant panda named Qian Qian. We see tiny, young Qian Qian being rocked by Hou Rong, director of the research center who is known as the “Panda Mama” for her loving care of the young pandas. We learn of Ben Kilham, an independent biologist from New Hampshire known as the “Bear Whisperer” for his lifelong work guiding black bears born in captivity into the wild. And we meet Jake Owens, an American wildlife conservation biologist, who hikes the steep mountainsides with Qian Qian, slowly weening her from the safe confines of her fenced-in forests and eventually leading her to the wild open habitat that will be her natural and true home.</p>
<p>It is probably impossible to out-cute a panda, and the movie makes good use of that aspect of the cuddly creatures. It seems when they move they roll at least as much as they walk, and the tiny mewls and cries of the babies are enough to melt the hardest of hearts. It is no wonder that giant pandas are one of the national symbols of China.</p>
<p>But the more I think about the movie, the more I am drawn to the humans in the film. These are people who have dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves. They are attempting to do at least some small thing to fix a world that has been broken by, let’s face it, mostly human activities. The reason the giant pandas’ habitats are relatively small, separated parcels of land in hard-to-access mountains is because of human development. It’s not just China, of course. It’s worldwide, and we here in the United States have our own stories to tell, our own histories of over-development to the point of destruction and disaster. None of us are innocent.</p>
<p>Which is why I am constantly drawn to those people who have a purpose beyond their own selves. We all are, or should be ennobled by such selfless lives. We need such people to lead us out of the confines of our fenced-in egos and into the open space of a world in need. And I don’t have to go all the way to China. The Nature Conservancy, for example, has plenty of projects right here in Indiana.</p>
<p>“Pandas” is showing until Aug. 30 at the Indiana State Museum IMAX theater.</p>
