The Green Guardian initiatives also include creative projects in which students make themed art, such as this green globe. (Photo/Hunan Daily)
On Oct. 15, 2025, in Xupu County, Hunan, the “Green Guardians” eco-environment volunteer team handed out outreach materials, explained the Yangtze River Protection Law, and then conducted a local river cleanup. The event paired legal outreach with hands-on cleanup, a format used in Hunan’s wider “Green Guardians” volunteer program.
Volunteers distributed an illustrated guide to the Yangtze River Protection Law and a citizen code of conduct on eco-environment behavior. They explained key provisions in the law, including fishing restrictions and shoreline protection, and encouraged daily practices such as greener consumption and public participation in environmental oversight.
After the outreach, volunteers carried litter pickers and trash bags for the riverbank cleanup. They checked the shoreline section by section, removing plastic bottles, food packaging, and fallen branches and leaves, and focused on trash lodged in rock crevices and grass.
“Picking up trash may look insignificant, but it shows our commitment to protecting the river, and it helps people understand that protection is not just a slogan,” one volunteer said.
A passerby said the mix of outreach and action was effective, helping people learn the law while seeing practical river protection in action.
The head of the Xupu unit said the team will continue similar combined activities.
The Xupu event is one local iteration of the “Green Guardians” series. The provincial-wide programs use volunteer service to combine legal knowledge with public-facing environmental actions, aiming to sustain participation at the county and community level.
The “Green Guardians” volunteer force has been active on the front lines of Hunan’s environmental work for years. In September 2013, as Hunan launched a top-priority program to protect and restore the Xiangjiang River, the “Green Guardians” eco-environment volunteer team was formed.
In 2018, the Green Guardians campaign was launched across Hunan, sending volunteers into all 122 counties, county-level cities, and districts in the province.
In June 2022, Hunan launched its public participation platform for ecological and environmental protection, which integrates resources such as volunteer forces, open environmental facilities, and environmental education bases.
The “Green Guardians” activities around Dongting Lake were selected among the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s top 10 public participation cases for 2022 and were recognized as an outstanding publicity and education case from China’s 13th Five-Year Plan period, promoted nationwide.
(Credit to Hunan Today)