Travis Winn has taken several hundred Chinese on rafting tours in the country.[Photo by Adam Mills Elliott/For China Daily]

At the urging of outdoor enthusiasts in Sichuan province in 2003, Winn, who at the time had 20 years' experience in rafting, decided that he would start organizing river trips for Chinese.

Three years later he established Last Descents, a company that specializes in river expeditions. Last Descents is now a registered company in Beijing with a staff of five.

"I named it Last Descents because I knew that many of the rivers we were running would soon disappear behind dams," Winn says. "I was hoping the name would create a sense of urgency and encourage more people to come outside and see these wild places, and that maybe as they did some of the rivers would be protected."

In Winn's years in China he has witnessed the major changes in not just the landscape but also how society has come to appreciate the need to protect nature. The Chinese government has changed policies on water sports to encourage greater participation, even setting up university programs to promote the activities, he says.

In addition, Winn says, government officials today are looking for ways to develop their waterways for tourism and enjoyment, which is a huge departure from the development model of the past.

"There has been a huge change. Before, local governments did not support rafting because they thought it was dangerous. Now, after having acknowledged the importance of rivers, they are coming forward to cooperate with us."

Winn is now involved in planning for Lancangjiang National Park in Qinghai province. The opportunity came up when a local leader interested in conservation joined a rafting trip and recognized the value of the activity to the local area.