The Good News Thread

[Poly Hedra]

Sometimes I get a bit despondent when I view threads because of all the death and destruction so I'm starting a good news thread. Feel free to post any articles, videos stories etc that are inspiring, uplifting, makes you feel this world is still a beautiful place.
There are websites who are purley dedicated to collecting all the good news from around the world.
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
http://www.dailygood.org/

This is taken from Dailygood:

"How 365 Thank You Notes Changed My Life"

"Aug 18, 2013-- At just 52 years old, and after having lost nearly everything, John Kralik found himself in a desperate search --a search for just one thing for which he might feel thankful. His search led him to a walk along a mountain road, where his mind sifted through the details of all of his most recent troubles. It was then that John realized, that he should find gratitude for all that he had, instead of focusing so much on all that he had lost. It was in this moment, that John resolved to find opportunities for sharing his gratitude with others each day. Read how a simple act of writing daily thank you notes, led to a most brilliant life change."

Read the full story here:
http://www.dailygood.org/2013/08/18/how-365-thank-you-notes-changed-my-life/

[CD7]

Nice I just posted this in another thread but ill also post here as it is good news and inspiring...

In my area, well most of florida there are problems as a result of the army core of engineers changing the water channels from north to south florida...recently sugar grooves have had the excess water run out into the st lucie river instead of heading south which would hurt sugar crops.

As a result, the two different water systems coming together created an algae bloom which has killed many fish, dolphin and manatee...

So the good news about this is that many people came together to form a human chain across the beaches from stuart to Jensen beach to effect change...it was very inspiring for me to see many people come together to form something bigger for positive change. So all though the issue is sad, it is inspiring at the same...



https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=639139519432491&set=vb.100000093450186&type=2&theater

[music]

I saved the life of a small carnivorous marsupial (Antechinus stuartii). He was apparently dead, cold and stiff when I found him, and there was no sign of breathing. I put my mouth to his and forced some saliva into his mouth. I held him in my palms, sending love through the palms. He warmed, but still did not stir. I had work to do, so I put him against my skin. Later, work done, I brought him out. He was warm. I gave him more saliva, and some honey. He stirred, he roused, and he was OK. I travelled back the 2.5 km to put him where I'd found him. Good news is as simple as that. It happens every day, and we each one us perform little miracles of love and mercy in our own way.

[Marie]

Thank you so much conec. I was feeling disturbed yesterday about something I read about 'what is to come' and this lead to some deeper contemplation about where I would like to place my focus. I came to feel that it is important to focus on the positive - that is where I feel joy and want to live - while at the same time not sticking my head in the sand. That includes for me looking at negative issues and wishing to transmute them. I want to see clearly which is what this forum is about (and why I come here :)) but I am contributing to our shared reality in every moment and I need to be watchful about being overwhelmed by the negative. What do I want to contribute? I see this as not only 'deeds' but also 'state of mind or being'.

Your thread is timely for me. Thanks for the inspiration.

*****

amazing and beautiful story music :)

[Justintime]

I saw this story a few months ago on ESPN, about former Nebraska Runningback Rex Burkhead, and Jack Hoffman, a six year old cancer patient. It's truly heartwarming and more than just a Make A Wish one time thing, the two really developed an adorable relationship together.

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Enjoy :happy:

Man, just watched it again for the first time in a few months and wow, that story is what the human spirit is all about IMO, is someone cutting onions?

[Bubu]

for me the good news of the day is this thread.

Thanks Conec.

[Poly Hedra]

A lot of these stories I'll be posting aren't exactly news as they're old but worth reading
This is a touching story:
http://gimundo.com/news/article/a-fallen-soldiers-last-gift-bruce-hays-and-the-apache-project/


A Fallen Soldier’s Last Gift: Bruce Hays and the Apache Project

Bruce Hays, a captain in the Wyoming Army National Guard from Laramie, Wisconsin, bought a truck for his wife Terry as an anniversary present in 2008. It was just like the one her dad used to drive. This truck wasn’t quite road-worthy, though: The 1959 Chevy Apache pick-up was in pieces, and covered in rust. It would take months to restore the truck to its former glory—but Hays was prepared to put in the time, working with Terry to bring the truck back to life.


Read rest of story at link.

[music]

My wife saw a post on a fb swap and buy type page that someone from another town had lost a teddy bear in our town. Well, their child's teddy bear. The young one was apparently inconsolable. 2 weeks later, picking up our son from day care, one of the teachers mentioned they needed to do some posters for a lost teddy bear they'd found in the park across the road. My wife thought, hmm, that bear looks familiar, and left a message on the same fb page. Within 60 seconds or so, someone who knew the family of the distraught child responded, got the details, and let them know. The little girl and her bear were reunited.

Happy child, now that is what I call good news :)

[Prodigal Son]

Brzezinski Admits Alternative Media Stalling War With Syria

http://www.hangthebankers.com/brzezinski-admits-alternative-media-stalling-war-with-syria/

http://www.hangthebankers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/zbigniew-brzezinski.jpg

During a short interview with Germany’s DW News last Monday, former US National Security Adviser and Trilateral Commission co-founder Zbigniew Brzezinski commented on the growing inefficiency of war due to the increased political knowledge of the public.

“Given the contemporary reality of what I have called in my writings ‘Global Political Awakening,’ a policy of force based primarily on Western and in some cases former colonial powers does not seem to me a very promising avenue to an eventual solution to the regional problem,” said Brzezinski, referring to the situation in Syria.

Despite Brzezinski’s noted long-term relationship with Obama which included a top foreign policy adviser position, Brzezinski denied any specific knowledge of his plans regarding Syria, saying that if the administration has a strategy, it’s a “very well-kept secret.”

Obama’s Middle Eastern strategy has been a mere continuation of the policies seen under Bush, exemplified by former four star general and NATO commander Wesley Clark’s admission of the Bush-era Pentagon plan to overthrow several countries including Libya and Syria.

Although Brzezinski at times attempts to appear opposed to military interventionism, President Obama’s actions in Syria, which include the support of admitted Al Qaeda fighters, closely mirrors several of Brzezinski’s previous policies, most notably the opposition to the Soviet Union in 1979, where decisions made by Brzezinski led to the creation of Al Qaeda through the CIA funding of the Afghan Mujaheddin.

Brzezinski’s call of warning to the “global political awakening” has only intensified in recent years. Last year during a speech in Poland, Brzezinski noted that it has become “increasingly difficult to suppress” and control the “persistent and highly motivated populist resistance of politically awakened and historically resentful peoples.” Brzezinski also blamed the accessibility of “radio, television and the Internet” for the “universal awakening of mass political consciousness.”

“[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people,” said Brzezinski during a 2010 Council on Foreign Relations speech in Montreal.

Despite attempts by both the Republican and Democratic leadership to gain support for a war in Syria, a new Reuters poll revealed that only 9 percent of Americans support military intervention in Syria. If the United States intervenes, it will be the least popular war in American history.

The massive and growing evidence forced out by the alternative media, which points to a US backed chemical attack by Al Qaeda led rebel forces to be blamed on Assad, has only accelerated the inevitable downfall of the corporate press that is now only trusted by 23 percent of the public.

[Prodigal Son]

Brzezinski Admits: Worldwide Resistance is Stalling the New World Order

http://www.hangthebankers.com/brzezinski-admits-worldwide-resistance-is-derailing-the-new-world-order/

During a recent speech in Poland, former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski warned fellow elitists that a worldwide “resistance” movement to “external control” driven by “populist activism” is threatening to derail the move towards a new world order.

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Calling the notion that the 21st century is the American century a “shared delusion,” Brzezinski stated that American domination was no longer possible because of an accelerating social change driven by “instant mass communications such as radio, television and the Internet,” which have been cumulatively stimulating “a universal awakening of mass political consciousness.”

The former US National Security Advisor added that this “rise in worldwide populist activism is proving inimical to external domination of the kind that prevailed in the age of colonialism and imperialism.”

Brzezinski concluded that “persistent and highly motivated populist resistance of politically awakened and historically resentful peoples to external control has proven to be increasingly difficult to suppress.”

Although Brzezinski delivered his comments in a neutral tone, the context of the environment in which he said them allied to his previous statements would indicate that this is not a celebration of “populist resistance” but a lament at the impact it is having on the kind of “external control” Brzezinski has repeatedly advocated.

The remarks were made at an event for the European Forum For New Ideas (EFNI), an organization that advocates the transformation of the European Union into an anti-democratic federal superstate, the very type of bureaucratic “external control” Brzezinski stressed was in jeopardy in his lecture.

In this context, it must be understood that Brzezinski’s point about “populist resistance” being a major hindrance to the imposition of a new world order is more of a warning than an acclamation.

Also consider what Brzezinski wrote in his book Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technotronic Era, in which he advocated the control of populations by an elite political class via technotronic manipulation.

“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities,” wrote Brzezinski.

“In the technotronic society the trend would seem to be towards the aggregation of the individual support of millions of uncoordinated citizens, easily within the reach of magnetic and attractive personalities exploiting the latest communications techniques to manipulate emotions and control reason,” he wrote in the same book.

Brzezinski’s sudden concern about the impact of a politically awakened global population isn’t born out of any notion that he identifies with their cause. Brzezinski is the ultimate elitist insider, the founder of the powerful Trilateral Commission, a Council on Foreign Relations luminary and a regular Bilderberg attendee. He was once described by President Barack Obama as “one of our most outstanding thinkers”.

This is by no means the first time Brzezinski has lamented the burgeoning populist opposition to external domination by a tiny elite.

During a 2010 Council on Foreign Relations speech in Montreal, Brzezinski warned fellow globalists that a “global political awakening,” in combination with infighting amongst the elite, was threatening to derail the move towards a one world government.

Source: http://www.infowars.com/brzezinski-populist-resistance-is-derailing-the-new-world-order/

[Prodigal Son]

Judge Napolitano: US Strike on Syria Would Be War Crime

http://www.newsmax.com/NewsmaxTv/napolitano-syria-war-crime/2013/09/05/id/524079?s=al&promo_code=14C74-1

Israel Suspends Water Fluoridation Citing Health Concerns

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/israel-bans-all-water-fluoridation-citing-health-concerns/

[onawah]

It might be nice to have a thread for posting any good news we happen to find from around the world.
Avalon tends to get bogged down with the worst news in the world, :ballchain: :tsk: and often needs something to cheer us up.:o :whoo: :cheer2:
Here's the launcher:
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/new-nature-preserve-will-be-the-largest-on-earth


New nature preserve will be the largest on Earth
Covering more than 320 million acres, the marine park in New Caledonia is twice the size of Texas, three times the size of Germany and much larger than any other protected area on the planet.
Fri, May 02, 2014 at 03:58 PM

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/styles/featured_blog/public/new_caledonia_mare.jpeg

Corals grow just below the ocean surface near Maré Island, New Caledonia. (Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock)
New Caledonia, a small island chain in the South Pacific, just set aside the largest protected area on the planet. The sprawling marine park spans 1.3 million square kilometers — or more than 320 million acres — easily becoming the most expansive wilderness preserve anywhere, on land or at sea.

Named Le Parc Naturel de la Mer de Corail, or "the Natural Park of the Coral Sea," the newly established sanctuary is home to a menagerie of wildlife. It contains more than 1.1 million acres of coral reefs, 25 species of marine mammals, 48 shark species, 19 species of nesting birds and five species of sea turtles. The park's ecosystems also generate up to 3,000 tons of fish every year, providing an important food source for New Caledonia's quarter of a million human inhabitants.

"This is a monumental decision for New Caledonia and the entire Pacific," says David Emmett, senior vice-president for Conservation International's Asia-Pacific program, in a press release about the park. "Such a measure exemplifies what other countries in the Pacific can do to fully invest in the long-term health and productivity of their ocean resources."

Located about 2,000 miles east of Australia, the Natural Park of the Coral Sea covers all of New Caledonia's exclusive economic zone, marine waters that extend up to 200 nautical miles from the islands' coasts. In addition to protecting fish, coral reefs and other wildlife that are vital to the local economy, the park is also expected to be a windfall for New Caledonian eco-tourism.

Speaking of which, New Caledonia overall is already an ecological mecca. Its clever, tool-making crows may be its most famous fauna, but it also boasts Earth's richest biodiversity per square kilometer, according to Lonely Planet, and is considered the world's only stand-alone biodiversity hotspot. It's home to the second-longest double-barrier coral reef, after Australia's Great Barrier Reef, as well as the largest coastal lagoon on Earth, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user/130162/new_caledonia_satellite.jpeg
New Caledonia, as seen from space by a U.S. Geological Survey satellite. (Photo: NASA/USGS)

New Caledonia is still a French territory, but since 1999 France has been gradually transferring more responsibility to local leaders. It was those leaders, including President Harold Martin, who established the new park by legislative decree. They first announced the concept in 2012 at the Pacific Islands Forum, and have spent years developing it with help from scientists and other experts.

Not only does the park set an international example with its sheer size, but it also demonstrates the perks of proactive preservation. Rather than waiting until an ecosystem is under siege to protect it, New Caledonia is saving some of its most valuable ecological assets while they're still pristine. The area isn't devoid of problems, explains Conservation International's Jean-Christophe Lefeuvre in a Q&A on the group's website, but it is being protected before its problems get out of hand.

"There are no existing major threats — mostly illegal fishing," says Lefeuvre, who directs Conservation International's New Caledonia program. "In the near future, however, an increase in ship traffic coming in and out of Queensland, Australia, will heighten the risk of collision. In addition, the recent deep-sea oil and mining potential may affect the integrity of nature and ecosystem services in the Coral Sea."

Now that the park has been legally established, the next step will be to figure out logistical details like spatial planning and management strategies, Lefeuvre adds. As a multiple-use protected area, certain areas will be open to economic activities like fishing, with protection levels based on information from existing environmental data. The New Caledonian government, its advisers and partners will have three years to develop a management plan for the park and divide it into different zones.

"New Caledonians have always understood how much we depend upon nature — especially our oceans," Lefeuvre says. "The careful and thoughtful management of natural resources is essential to long-term human well-being. This legislation sends a powerful message that investing in the value nature can provide is the basis for a healthy and sustainable society."

Russell McLendon is science editor at MNN. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.

Related conservation stories on MNN:
Scientists identify 2,370 'irreplaceable' places
Alabama's secret ocean forest may get protection
U.S. approves first new wilderness area in 5 years

[onawah]

Who doesn't love pandas? I used to take care of a rather melancholy little boy named Gregory, but nothing would cheer him up like a picture of a panda or his stuffed panda toy. :panda: There is something magical and humorous about these peaceful creatures...


'Pandas: The Journey Home': 3-D film celebrates China's progress in returning pandas to the wild
The director and the producer of the film discuss the environmental and political challenges involved in bringing the story of China's panda conservation efforts to the big screen.
By: Gerri Miller
Tue, Apr 29, 2014 at 05:29 PM
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/pandas-the-journey-home-3-d-film-celebrates-chinas-progress-in

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/editorial/PandaDocumentary01_m_0429.jpg

Xiao Xi Xi rests by a river in Wolong’s Deng Sheng Valley, Sichuan, China (Photo: Bao Cheng Li)
Eminently adorable and highly endangered, wild pandas have dwindled in number to less than 1,600 due to loss of habitat. Fortunately, a concerted conservation program in China focused on breeding and returning captivity-born pandas to the wild is slowly turning that statistic around. Those efforts are the subject of the new 3-D documentary "Pandas: The Journey Home." Narrated by actress Joely Richardson, the film takes viewers inside the breeding facility at the Bifengxia Panda base to follow a panda from birth, and to the Wolong National Nature Reserve to discover the ingenious ways pandas are prepared for life in the wild. For director Nicolas Brown and producer Caroline Hawkins, making it was a journey in itself, as they explain in this interview with MNN.

MNN: How did the film come about?
Caroline Hawkins: After the success of "Meerkats 3D," which has been screening in IMAX theatres across the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Australia, I suggested to National Geographic and Sky that we make a film on giant pandas. Like meerkats, pandas are loved the world over yet there has been a lot of misinformation about them. I thought it would be wonderful to show people how they really are. The idea initially came from my friend and wildlife filmmaker Andrew Graham-Brown. He had just made a documentary for the BBC about the Chinese panda-breeding program at Chengdu. He showed me some of his footage of tiny panda cubs in incubators and said, "Can you imagine how fantastic this would be in 3-D?" It was obvious that the idea would work, although I knew from his experience how difficult gaining access would be.

Nicolas Brown: When I was approached, I was immediately intrigued because I feel like we are so familiar with pandas, and yet what do we really know? The real life of the panda — the wild panda — is a lot more mysterious than the zoo animal. How do wild pandas live? Are they really an evolutionary dead end, or is there more to them? And how do the Chinese see pandas? I was excited to go and discover more!


Why was this an important story to tell?
Brown: China as a nation is just now discovering the importance of environment. People in Beijing don't want to have to wear pollution masks. The new government (this actually happened while we were filming) has made the environment one of the five pillars of the New China. They've even banned shark fin soup. So they need a good news story that people can rally around. This is their story! I’ve been filming wildlife conservation programs all over the world now for a National Geographic series soon to be on PBS, and the panda conservation program is possibly the biggest and best animal conservation effort on the planet.

The Chinese are making it a priority — they are moving nearly 20,000 farmers off the land to make room for panda habitat. They are planting more trees in China — perhaps than the rest of the world put together. They are planting bamboo. They are even routing roads through underground tunnels so that the pandas will have corridors to connect ecosystems. It's extraordinary. And they are facing huge challenges. Pandas and the panda scientists have to live and work in one of the worst earthquake zones in China. The 2008 Great Sichuan earthquake devastated the region, and while we were there, another earthquake destroyed villages. The roads always take a beating, and we often had to wait days for engineers to dig out the mudslides and make the roads passable again. The success of solving the panda breeding problem, and then the additional success of sending pandas back to the wild — these are stories that all of us can be inspired by, the world over. Fifty years after the WWF adopted the panda as the symbol of conservation, we can now finally say that we are doing more than treading water — we are making progress. We are sending pandas back to the wild!

Hawkins: Although pandas are much loved, there is a lot of misinformation about them. We are told that they are hopeless at breeding and that conservation funds could be better spent elsewhere, but this is inaccurate and misses the point. It's true it is hard to breed pandas in captivity but in the wild they have no difficulty, given sufficient undisturbed habitat. The Chinese are determined to turn things around, to increase populations of pandas in the wild and give them back their habitat. If they are successful in that, they will not only save this special species from extinction but many other animals, insects and plants will be saved with them. Everything is environmentally connected, and although we only see growing industrialization in China, the Chinese do understand the bigger picture.

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user/137915/PandaDocumentary02_e_0429.jpg
A mother panda carries her cub at the Wolong giant panda reserve in China’s Sichuan Province (Photo: Yang Dan)

What makes pandas so fascinating?
Brown: They are unlike any animal. They are black and white so they don't blend into the forest. And yet they can disappear at will, it seems, if you go looking for them. They are bears with teeth and claws and huge power, and yet they seldom eat meat. They prefer bamboo, which is a very poor source of nutrition. So they eat a lot. To see a panda is to be instantly calmed down and charmed, with a smile put on your face. I think doctors could prescribe seeing a panda as medicine — no matter what mood you were in before, once you watch a panda you will emerge calm and happy.

What did you learn in the course of making this, perhaps that surprised you and will surprise the audience?
Brown: Pandas are good at mating on their own. It's only us humans that, by holding them captive, have made captive breeding into a farce that even now gives them a reputation for being unable to reproduce. In the wild they don’t have that problem at all, but as you will see from the film, captive breeding is not at all easy. Panda mothers are incredibly attentive and dedicated. I don't really know why that is a surprise, given how cute the babies are. But it's amazing to see this giant mother attending to a tiny baby that is just 1/800th of her weight.

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user/137915/PandaDocumentary05_e_0429.jpg

The Chinese are so dedicated to the panda and to the environment of Sichuan. All we hear about China are stories of ivory trade, rhino and other rare animal medicines, and of dirty coal and huge water diversions. But they are determined to save the panda at all costs, and they understand that by saving the panda they are really saving a vast forest ecosystem that provides all kinds of services including fresh water and clean air. I was surprised how difficult it is to get an animal like a panda ready to survive in the wild. If you just took a zoo panda and released them, they wouldn't last long. They would succumb to parasites, disease, hunger, predation. It takes real skill and training to survive in the wild.

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What was the process of getting access like?
Hawkins: Tough! It took over two years. The one thing you quickly learn about working in China is that taking the standard official route rarely works. Nothing you've learned from working in other countries applies. We were extremely fortunate in that we were introduced to Sun Shuyun — our China executive producer — who was able to make the necessary introductions for us. Without her assistance I'm sure we would still be trying. That said, once we had the necessary permissions, we built up terrific working relationships. Our Chinese colleagues did so much to help and support us.

Brown: In China, relationships are personal and built upon trust and time spent together. There is no way you can just come from the outside, fill out some forms and get access to pandas. There was a long period where we — Director Zhang (head of Wolong Panda Organization) and myself and Jade (Chinese producer) spent days and days eating and drinking tea and discussing what was possible to film and what wasn't. In the end, everything became possible but only after we had gained each other's trust. And I think the breakthroughs came by getting drunk together, having a good laugh, and seeing each other with our guards down. We ate things like dry roasted grasshoppers, and that also broke the ice. They seemed to recognize that we were not there to exploit pandas for money, which is common. They saw that we had the same goals — we wanted to tell their story and to do our part in getting a conservation message out to the public. At that point, we became friends, and remain so. By the end of filming, they were more than cooperative. They were as dedicated to the film if not more so than we were. This really is their film.

How long were you in China? What were the highlights for you?
Brown: The crew and myself went there on three long trips to cover the entire year cycle of the panda's life. The biggest highlights were filming Tao Tao's release, and filming mating.

Hawkins: I traveled to Beijing, Ya'an and Wolong to meet the government officials and senior scientists working with the pandas. It was important to explain what 3-D filming would involve and to raise a glass to our collaboration. The highlight: Screening the 3-D premiere to our Chinese colleagues and the world's top panda scientists who all came together for the event in the auditorium at Edinburgh Zoo.

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user/137915/PandaDocumentary03_e_0429.jpg
Filming Director Nic Brown, director of photography Chris Openshaw, and rig technician Kevin Zemrowsky film a panda at Wolong
Filming Director Nic Brown (far right), director of photography Chris Openshaw (center), and rig technician Kevin Zemrowsky film a panda at Wolong. (Photo: Yang Dan)

What were the challenges you faced — logistical, weather, etc.?
Brown: The challenges were so many — it was one of the most difficult films any of us have ever had to work on. To start with, 3-D on this scale is so difficult. The cameras are so huge, it takes you 30 minutes to re-position. You can imagine then if your making a documentary, it's not very spontaneous to ask people to just wait with whatever crisis they are dealing with because we need 30 minutes to get set up!

The camera took two big men to lift onto the tripod. To change lenses took two hours. And in the wild enclosures you're talking about very steep, challenging terrain. Muddy, leech-infested forests — and it rained every single day. Only when we came back in spring for the mating did we see the sun and couldn't really believe it. Rain and 3-D cameras don’t mix — if you get just a tiny spot on the mirror (which is huge and sits in front of the lens), the shot is ruined. The earthquake had destroyed the roads, and often we had either no electricity, no Internet, no phone, or all three were unavailable. We brought a generator just so we could keep processing the footage. Also, with 3-D you can’t film past objects that are close to the camera, like foliage or especially bars on a cage. So to film pandas in cages, we had to build our own cage for safety so that we could get close. Pandas — especially mothers protecting their young — can be ferocious. So we often spent a lot of time working out how to get into our cage, how to get out, and what to do if a panda decided to attack.

The biggest single challenge came at the end, when the Beijing government decided that they didn't want westerners to film Tao Tao's release. Our whole film was building up to this great event and we were denied access. Our savior was again Director Zhang, who played a clever political trick. He snuck myself and Jade into a banquet, and invited us to meet a very important official — the minister of forestry. In front of the entire banquet, I gave him a small gift, and we drank toasts to each other, as all the other ministers watched. After that, everyone was afraid to say no to us, so we were given permission to film. Even so, we had no passes to get into the release event, so we ended up smuggling our crew and cameras up in military vehicles who were in charge of security. This was in the dead of night. There was no room for me, so I ended up being smuggled in a van of local dancers.

We dressed ourselves in camouflage suits (like in the movie "Predator") and ended up being the only journalists who were dressed that way, which the Chinese saw as respectful to the panda. We made the cover of several big Chinese newspapers.

Hawkins: On top of that, there was equipment impounded at customs, bonds to pay, the remoteness ... meaning there was no technical back-up if we needed repairs or extra pieces of kit. The domestic arrangements were tough too — everything was swimming in water, which meant technical kit had to be raised up on milk crates and sheltered under umbrellas — indoors!

What messages did you want to convey?
Brown: The main message is one of hope: we can save endangered species if we care enough. And the Chinese do love pandas. If they can save pandas, then can't we also save species we care about? It doesn't take a communist country to save wildlife, but we can learn a lot from the "can do" attitude of the Chinese when it comes to setting aside habitat and moving fast to save something before it's too late. We should be rolling out "panda-style" conservation programs for all kinds of endangered species, from lions to whales to frogs and butterflies. I'd also be happy if people realized that the panda is far from an evolutionary dead end. It's one of the longest-lived bear species, much older than polar bears or grizzlies, and if we give it the right habitat, it will survive for many millions more years.

Hawkins: Pandas ARE worth saving and if we prove that they can be saved, then the prospects for many other species will improve.

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user/137915/PandaDocumentary04_e_0429.jpg
Director Zhang, head of the breeding program at Wolong Panda Center, with a baby panda on a visit to a local school in Wolong town
Director Zhang, head of the breeding program at Wolong Panda Center, with a baby panda on a visit to a local school in Wolong town. (Photo: Yang Den)

What is the takeaway for viewers? And call to action?
Brown: To think positive about wildlife and make sure China takes what they've learned saving the panda into other areas. Encourage them to think about wildlife as something more than food or medicine. If the panda has a right to live in the wild, then so do rhinos, elephants, saiga antelope — whatever animal that right now is threatened by Chinese consumption. We need good news stories about wildlife, and this is one of the best! You can help save the panda by adopting a panda on the Internet. If you support the efforts of Wolong, either with money or going to China as a panda volunteer, you are part of the solution. Also, consider how easy it is to fall in love with pandas. That's a great start. From there, maybe learn about other animals. America's black footed ferret, or the saiga antelope — see what other species can capture your heart. Anything you do for wildlife will make you feel good about the world, and make you feel that it's possible to share the planet with such extraordinary forms of life.

Hawkins: I think they will be amazed at the determination of the Chinese to preserve this iconic species. Viewers will see how they have worked out their own unique approach to conservation by studying animals in the wild and then applying what they've learned to veterinary medicine and habitat management. I would ask people to see the giant panda as emblematic of the bigger picture. To save endangered animals we must first save their habitat and you can help do that in the small choices you make every day. When you go to the supermarket take time to check the ingredients on packets. Make yourself aware of which ingredients are unsustainable such as palm oil from Indonesia, and resolve not to buy products that contain it. Better still, write to the manufacturer and let them know that you will no longer buy their products until they clean up their act. You would be amazed at the results that small changes in your behavior can make. If we can save pandas we can save orangutans and many other species too!

What’s your next project?
Brown: I'm working on a five-part series for National Geographic due to air on PBS called "Earth’s New Wild," due to air next year. It's a conservation series that examines how humans are part of nature, and play a vital role in keeping ecosystems healthy.

Hawkins: I'm following the panda breeding program at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. We're hoping to film the first ever panda birth in the U.K. We have a few more 3-D films in the pipeline too.

“Pandas: The Journey Home” opens May 1 at the Museum of Science in Boston, and the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, with dates in Quebec, Dallas, Denver, Houston and many more to follow. Visit the film's website for more info and venues.