Volunteers safeguard 'lake city'
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E-mail China Daily, December 31, 2012
Meanwhile, volunteers used online instant messaging platforms to keep each other informed and to encourage more people to join in the weekly activities.
The role of the grassroots volunteers was formally recognized by the authorities in 2010, in a new regulation on lake renovation.
In June, the city government decided to hand responsibility for lake protection at each of the 38 lakes in the downtown areas to the deputy heads of districts or a legislator at the district people's congress, as official guardians of the lake.
The authorities also encouraged more volunteers to take up the role of grassroots guardians.
Ke was named the guardian of the city's East Lake and he has regularly met the official lake guardian to report any new findings.
"The channel of dialogue is open," he said. "If I found a problem and it was urgent, I would ring the hotline. If it wasn't, I would collect the proof and develop it in a report before presenting it.
"Although the grassroots level can notice problems that authorities usually can't, the problems can only be solved by the authorities," he said.
In July, the lake guardians held talks with Hu Lishan, the vice-mayor of Wuhan, in a TV broadcast at which they listed 10 new problems yet to be solved.
In October, Hu reported progress on the 10 problems to the grassroots guardians and pledged that the government will continue to support their campaign to protect the lakes in future.
Feng Yongfeng, the founder of an environmental protection NGO in Beijing, said he believes the volunteer effort in Wuhan could be replicated in other cities.
"The Wuhan case shows that grassroots environmental groups are needed to research problems, seek ways to solve them, and bring issues to the attention of the authorities who can help supervise them," he said.
"Some NGOs are only focused on empty talk to educate the public. More often than not, the public has more of a right to educate them," he said.
Despite the progress on lake protection over the years in Wuhan, Feng still warns there has been too much attention on pollution or land reclamation, while the restoration of the lakes' ecological systems has been neglected.
"There were a number of cases of illegal hunting of birds around the lakes this year and no volunteers seemed to have intervened," he said.
Ke said the volunteers are now planning to further expand their attention to the lakes in the city's suburban areas.
"My wish is simple. I hope I can still walk around any one of these lakes when I am old," he said.
"Our wish is to make sure that all these lakes are still here 100 years from now."
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