Conservation vs. Preservation

LiJiang , strategically situated at the convergence of ancient
east-west trade routes (The Southern Silk Road and The Tea Road ),
has been the center of political, military, and commercial activities
for thousands of years. The mystical Ancient DongBa Heritage has been
an important study among international scholar-researchers since the 18th century.

It is rather ironic that the living NaXi Culture came out of obscurity because
of the 1996 M7.2 earthquake that devastated the NaXi homeland LiJiang.
The world community rallied to the rescue of the people and their homeland.
UNESCO designated the Ancient DaYaZhen Town a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1997.
In the past several years, other respectable international and national organizations
also expanded their programs into the region. LiJiang and its simple people were
overwhelmed and confused by its overnight celebrity status. The unprecedented
attention from the tourism industry has been especially damaging to its
natural environment and its traditional way of life. Many experts across
the academic disciplines are alarmed at the rapidly deteriorating ethnic NaXi
culture and have voiced their concerns about this endangered link to our
collective human heritage.

GNCCS regards the preservation of the NaXi historical past as a short-term objective.
The long-term objective must be the conservation of the Living NaXi Culture
in its homeland LiJiang. It is of paramount importance that we guide and pace
the inevitable evolution of a living culture, any culture however valuable and charming.

GNCCS endorses education as the means to deliver the concepts of preservation and
conservation of our global natural resources and our cultural diversity to the
next generation.