[Protect the first drop of water in the Yangtze River, guard the first barrier of life]

The Yangtze River source area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level, not only has the magnificent source of the river, lovely plateau creatures, and the busy Qinghai-Tibet Highway, but also a group of volunteers who guard the pure land. For seven years, the founders and volunteer team of the "Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station" have been willing to be lonely and persistent. A dream, a responsibility, they will continue to guard the water of the Yangtze River together!

There is such a group of people:

They trek between Qinghai and Tibet,

overcome high altitude sickness and high cold;

They do not seek utilitarianism,

do not want rewards.

Cleaned up 800,000 pieces of plateau garbage in seven years,

completed 8 Qinghai-Tibet line garbage surveys,

They are the candidates for the 2019 Rule of Law Figures,

and the volunteer team of the Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station who have been guarding the clear water and green mountains of the Yangtze River source for years!

The source of the Yangtze River, located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world, is the highest altitude and largest plateau wetland ecosystem in the world.

Here, there are abundant water and grass, dense lakes, and a large number of wild animals and plants. The main source Tuotuo River, the southern source Dangqu River and the northern source Chumar River form a fan-shaped water system. It is the birthplace of the mother river Yangtze River and gave birth to Chinese civilization.

"You come from the snow-capped mountains, and the spring tide is your style; you rush to the East China Sea, and the storm is your spirit..." Whenever we hear this song, we seem to be able to feel the spirit of the Yangtze River rushing from the Tuotuo River and nourishing both sides.

However, with the rapid growth of China's economy, the Qinghai-Tibet Highway transportation has become more and more convenient, and the radius of human activities has increased. A large amount of garbage has begun to invade the sparsely populated source of the Yangtze River, directly threatening the grassland ecological environment and the safety of the Yangtze River water source, which has caused two shocking pictures here:

Beautiful scenery, a lot of garbage.

In order to arouse more people's attention to the water ecology of the Yangtze River source, after establishing the first private nature reserve in China, the Suonandajie Nature Reserve, and letting the world know and pay attention to Hoh Xil and the Tibetan antelope, the founder Yang Xin shifted the focus of his work to the garbage survey of the Yangtze River source, the glacier retreat monitoring of the Yangtze River source, and the ecological anthropology survey, in order to promote the ecological environment protection process of the Tuotuo River, the source of the Yangtze River.

With the support of all sectors of society and the unremitting efforts of Yang Xin, on September 30, 2012, the second private nature reserve and the first private nature reserve in the Yangtze River source, the Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station, was completed on the bank of the Tuotuo River.

Since then, a Tibetan-style red building has stood in Tanggula Mountain Town, where the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Qinghai-Tibet Highway and the Yangtze River meet. The Tibetans also gave it a warm name "Red House". The cause of the protection of the water ecological environment of the Yangtze River source has thus entered a new stage.

In fact, Yang Xin is not fighting alone.

Every year, about 200 volunteers come to the Yangtze River Source Protection Station and the Qinghai-Tibet Green Station under the jurisdiction of the protection station to carry out volunteer services for a month. Together with full-time volunteers, they support the operation and maintenance of hundreds of large and small projects in the "Red House".

In this team of volunteers who are adapted to the plateau and polar regions and have both professionalism and endurance, there are scientists, anthropologists, glaciologists, zoologists, and alpine disease doctors, as well as first-class drivers, photographers and adventure athletes.

They are determined to contribute their own strength to the ecological environment protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the road of watching over the ecological environment of the Yangtze River Source begins here.

Trash for Goods

Volunteers went deep into the pastoral areas to carry out relevant education and training on the hazards of garbage. They went door to door in the grassland pastoral areas to tell the local herdsmen that "if bottles and cans are thrown around, the grass will not grow well, and cattle and sheep will get sick if they eat them by mistake" and "plastic burning will produce toxic gases, which will affect health"...

After asking the herdsmen not to litter, the volunteers will also help them solve the problem of where the garbage goes. They encourage herdsmen to bring non-degradable garbage from remote pastoral areas to the protection station by rewarding them with "trash for goods", and reward herdsmen with certain daily necessities, such as exchanging 5 plastic bottles for 1 bottle of beverage.

Take away a bag of garbage and protect the water source of the Yangtze River

After sorting the garbage brought by the herdsmen, the volunteers will bury the degradable garbage on the spot; for the non-degradable garbage, the volunteers will carry out special packaging.

In order to solve the problem of long-distance transportation of non-degradable garbage, volunteers also studied and established a "garbage transportation incentive mechanism" by promoting environmental protection to self-driving cars and empty return cars passing through the protection station, mobilizing everyone to take a bag of garbage to the designated recycling point in Golmud for subsequent treatment.

Qinghai-Tibet Green Station

The "Qinghai-Tibet Green Station" is a new garbage collection and transportation model explored by volunteers of the protection station based on preliminary investigations to open up the "missing link" of garbage circulation and realize the sustainability and replicability of the garbage collection and transportation model of "dispersed collection, long-distance transportation, and centralized disposal".

In 2017, the first phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Green Station established 6 stations on the 420-kilometer section of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway from Golmud to Tanggula Mountain Town in Qinghai Province and officially put it into operation.

Here, long-distance truck drivers and self-driving tourists can rest and leave the garbage on the truck to reduce the phenomenon of throwing garbage out of the car window at will; farmers and herdsmen living around the "Green Post" can also send their garbage in exchange for daily necessities.

Through the continuous efforts of volunteers, the garbage pollution in the Tuotuo River water source has been effectively reduced, and the protection station has also formed a management system for recycling, transportation and disposal.

There is an old saying in China, "Plans cannot keep up with changes." This saying is very appropriate for the protection station. The protection station, which originally focused on the garbage problem in the source area of the Yangtze River, has since started other "tasks" -

Bar-headed Goose Protection Action

In 2011, an old man living by the Bande Lake came to the protection station to report that he saw many people picking up bird eggs by the lake. The protection station immediately sent volunteers and bird experts to investigate. Unexpectedly, these few remaining bird eggs were unhatched eggs of bar-headed geese.

The bar-headed goose is the highest flying bird in the world. The global wild population is only 70,000. It can fly over the Himalayas, which is nearly 9,000 meters high, in eight hours. The source of the Yangtze River is one of its most important breeding grounds.

In order to prevent the theft of bar-headed goose eggs and the poaching of wild animals in the source area of the Yangtze River, the protection action for bar-headed geese has begun.

The volunteers guarded the mating, breeding and hatching process of the bar-headed geese throughout the process. They not only dissuaded people from coming to pick up eggs, but also conducted bird surveys and environmental protection publicity, and mobilized local herders to participate in the protection action.

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, the number of bar-headed geese in Bande Lake has increased from 1,172 in 2012 to 3,095 in 2016, and the protection effect is obvious. Local herders and residents have also established a sense of wildlife protection, and will send injured wild animals to the protection station for treatment as soon as possible.

Tracing the Yanzhanggua Canyon

The Yanzhanggua Canyon is the first canyon on the Yangtze River and is also the pure land with the best preserved original environment in the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The unique karst landform and rich biodiversity resources in the valley, as well as the distribution of first-class protected animals such as snow leopards, white-lipped deer, Tibetan wild donkeys, blue sheep and brown bears, also make it the canyon with the largest number of wild animal populations in the entire Yangtze River mainstream.

In order to promote the ecological environment protection here, with the support of the China Environmental Protection Foundation and the Yushu State Government, the protection station launched the "Tracing the Yanzhanggua Canyon--Biodiversity Survey of the First Canyon of the Yangtze River" project, and formed an expedition team composed of expert volunteers such as botanists, zoologists, and anthropologists to conduct a full-scale survey of the sparsely populated Yanzhanggua Canyon.

On the basis of traditional surveys, the survey used high-definition infrared automatic tracking monitors and infrared cameras for the first time to capture the whereabouts of large wild animals such as snow leopards and white-lipped deer.

After the investigation, the team completed the "Yanzhanggua Plant and Vegetation Survey" report, "Yanzhanggua Canyon Mammal Species Diversity Survey Report", "Yanzhanggua Aquatic Biology Survey Report" and "Yanzhanggua: Anthropological Perspective Ecological and Environmental Protection Survey Report".

The final survey results made all the hard work worthwhile: the Qinghai Provincial Government clearly stated that it would not approve the Yanzhanggua (Yage) Hydropower Station project, and the first Grand Canyon of the Yangtze River and the more than 500 kilometers of natural river channels were well preserved.

Since the establishment of the station, the volunteer team of the Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station has completed 8 garbage surveys on the Qinghai-Tibet line, cleaned up 800,000 pieces of garbage, and assisted the government in initially establishing a garbage disposal system in common remote areas;

In the past seven years, the protection station has witnessed the inheritance of the spirit of volunteers. A total of 979 volunteers from all over China have participated in the volunteer action to protect the source of the Yangtze River. They trekked between Qinghai and Tibet, overcame high altitude sickness and high cold, and did not take a penny...

No one knows what tasks the volunteer team of the Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station will encounter in the future. But no matter how impossible the task seems to be, they will devote themselves to it and work tirelessly. Because the journey of the guardian will never end!

Let's give a thumbs up to the volunteer team of the Yangtze River Source Water Ecological Environment Protection Station!

Plastic Industry Video