The planet does not need salvation. We do. | Alex Găvan | TEDxBucharest

The race against time of Alex Găvan and his team to save the asprete, the rarest fish in Europe and probably in the whole world, is ongoing. A living fossil aged over 65 million years, the fish was contemporary with the last of the dinosaurs to have walked on this earth. In this powerful speech, Alex urges us to look at how saving the asprete is actually the greater metaphor for saving ourselves and growing into our role of custodians of our planet, responsibly and mindfully. For Alex, one of Romania's leading high altitudine climbers, reaching 8000m summits without supplemental oxygen is also a way of being heard in his actions of advancing environmental and social causes. By using those summits as the greatest billboards possible, he makes the swift passage from the high peaks of the Himalayas to the very bottom of the fairytale-like valley in the Transilvania Alps of Romania where the asprete lives and unfolds a road map for the future where manifesting love is central. A leading Romanian high altitude climber, Alex uses the best stage possible, the summits of the world’s highest mountains to advance environmental and social causes.

He reached seven 8000 m summits in the Himalayas without supplemental oxygen and high-altitude porters and is a recipient of the 2008 “Gold Medal for Merit in Sport” (Spain) and awarded twice “The Romanian Sportsman of the Year” by the Romanian Federation of Mountaineering and Sport Climbing.

After surviving the earthquake and the Everest avalanche in 2015, he initiated “Joy for Nepal”, a humanitarian campaign where about 37.000 donors answered the charitable call resulting in building three schools for 300 children in remote Himalayan communities.

Alex is deeply involved in a series of environmental causes, such as the quest against illegal logging, protecting and conserving Romania’s virgin forests, Vacaresti Natural Park , cyanide free mining, Bucharest Green Belt or saving asprete, probably the world’s rarest fish. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx