‘China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom’ Recap – ‘East: The Last Refuge’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the finale of ‘China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom’.
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Over the course of the past couple of weeks, the BBC America series, China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom; has provided us with some fascinating ideas as to how we can possibly preserve the sanctity of nature and live alongside it in peace and harmony. Such as how our efforts should start with a grand push to create safe spaces for nature to thrive, the kind that are free of mankind’s influence and footprint. Plus, in areas where that isn’t possible, this series has been able to show us that there are people ready to lead the charge toward harmony and when empowered to do so, they will indeed accomplish wonders to ensure that nature understands that humanity is its friend, not its predator, so that it can thrive in peace and safety.

But while that has indeed made for some beautiful and serene moments in this documentary series, we’ve yet to see a true real-world application. For the people that went above and beyond for the animals in the Western part of China in the series premiere, lived in far less populated areas, where that kind of balance is a touch easier to achieve. And of course, the sanctuaries in the Central part of the nation, are already in an easy place to purge mankind since those areas aren’t exactly easily accessible. Which genuinely leaves one to wonder how balance would work when cities are near and people can easily head out into the world without giving it a second thought and well, that particular question was answered during last night’s series finale.

For ‘East: The Last Refuge’ made it inherently clear that finding that same balance as those in the West… is no easy task. Because the national park that was designed to keep the Siberian Tiger safe, is a part of the world where people have hunted the animals that live there, for generation upon generation, and new rules or not… those folks aren’t stopping now. Which means that precious food for these fragile animals is in short supply at times and the troubles with perfect coexistence don’t end there. For the beaches down south in China are often crowded and those coastal cities are growing, bringing forth problems for the coral reefs in the parks nearby since our footprint reaches far and wide. And of course, the need for industry also creates some complications, since rubber trees keep some species of monkeys from exploring the rest of their natural habitat.

But despite the seemingly dire nature of that picture, coexistence and harmony are indeed possible, provided the right efforts are put into place. For those very same tigers have silent defenders roaming the woods to remove those very traps so they have plenty of food to eat. Plus, there are scores of volunteers and scientists and environmentalists, working to replant the reef in a unique manner and rope bridges are starting to help those monkeys find new friends and mates so they can start new families. Which means that time is part of the equation, as is education, so old thinking fades and leading by example in this manner and educating people and looking to those who truly have found the balance… is paramount to enacting change. And that latter concept is of note since there is a place in the East where industry and humanity and nature actually do live in perfect harmony and their slow way of life might be the key to the future.

In the end however, this really was quite the fascinating documentary series. Simply because it was full of bold ideas, the kind that might have their drawbacks and might encounter hiccups along the way, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest. Because what the natural world needs right now, is bold thinking from humanity and if more nations can follow this lead and swing for the fences in honor of mother nature, then perhaps more people will join in the cause and genuine change can finally come about. But while we wait for that all-important day, we can at least sleep better knowing, that some people are genuinely ready to enact change in our world and the bare beginnings to finally treat planet Earth as an equal and not something to be conquered… are underway.  

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