Damien Mander

Damien Mander is the Founder and CEO of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF). He served as a Special Operations Sniper and Clearance Diver in the Australian Defence Force. While deployed in Iraq he was a project manager for the Iraq Special Police Training Academy, overseeing training of up to 700 cadets at one time. After three years on the front lines of the Iraq war, he departed in 2008. Following a trip to Africa, he founded the IAPF. The IAPF focuses on ranger training, operations, and integrating modern technology such as drones into conservation.

 

Lost in China’s Exploding Future

Chinese director Jia Zhangke’s new movie, Mountains May Depart, begins with a disco dance in a bleak mining town to the sounds of “Go West” by the Pet Shop Boys. It is the lunar New Year, 1999. Outside, the end of the millennium is celebrated in a more traditional style with exploding firecrackers and dragon dances.