Nimalrathna found that Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden offered the subjects in which he was interested and decided to pursue a doctoral program in Yunnan. During years of work with Nakamura, Nimalrathna received help in improving and materializing his plans.

"He exposed me to thinking outside the box and used his expertise to help me carry out my ideas," Nimalrathna, 30, says.

It will take Nimalrathna another three years to finish his doctoral program, but he says he will continue with his postdoctoral studies in ecology there.

Nakamura says China has made significant progress in protecting biodiversity.

"Biodiversity is essential to human health and well-being. I hope countries can strike the right balance between economic development and biodiversity protection and set practical goals to minimize habitat degradation and biodiversity loss."

Nakamura says he will continue to live in China.

"We have a lot to do, a lot of international projects are coming up, one of which will go on for four years," he says, adding that at the Xishuangbanna botanical garden, foreign researchers can also get funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Nakamura says he plays Frisbee three times a week and goes to the gym whenever he can to keep up the stamina required to climb trees.

"I'm still learning other climbing techniques, such as moving from one tree to another, how to hoist heavy stuff and how to rescue people stuck in a canopy," he says.

Li Yingqing contributed to the story.

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