More than 500 volunteers - mainly students and teachers from primary and high schools - on Saturday launched a campaign to protect the environment in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
The volunteers announced their pledges to "love creatures, save resources and plant trees while preserving greenery and fighting pollution" on the plateau.
The objective of the campaign is to protect water resources on the "Roof of the World", which is considered the source of many major rivers in Asia, such as China's longest river, the Yangtze, and Yarlung Zangbo, the highest river in the world.
Tibet, also known as a "gene bank", is a home to 125 of China's most protected wildlife species and 39 plants.
In line with the strategic development of China's western region, Tibet has seen the construction of the world's highest railway and many other infrastructure projects. The volunteer program will monitor ecological protection.
An official of the regional committee of China Youth League said that the region will mobilize the public to take part in the volunteer activities to better supervise eco-protection in Tibet.
He said that under the program, a number of monitoring stations will be set up with hotlines to receive public input.
(People's Daily March 10, 2002)
