Guardian of the Lake

Located in northeastern Hunan Province， Dongting Lake is the second-largest freshwater lake in China. An important player in regulating the flow of the Yangtze River in its middle reaches， Dongting Lake is also a famous tourist scenic spot. However， due to too much fishing， pollution， and other excessive exploitation of the lake in recent years， Dongting Lake， once a hub for migratory birds， has been shrinking. Even worse， the finless porpoise， a freshwater mammal as rare as the giant panda， which lives in Dongting Lake， teeters on the brink of extinction due to the lake’s terrible condition.

To save the finless porpoise and prevent Dongting Lake’s ecological environment from further deteriorating， Xu Yaping launched a massive conservation effort with his team from the Yueyang Finless Porpoise Protection Association. Along with the finless porpoise， they have also taken measures to help protect the oriental white stork， black stork， little swan and elk.

Along with 12 volunteering local fishermen and women， President Xu and Deputy President Peng Xianglin desperately patrol Dongting Lake day and night in hopes of protecting its fish stock. They report any illegal fishing to authorities and help confiscate equipment. They also keep an eye on drainage pipelines reaching Dongting Lake from nearby industrial enterprises.

However， compared to volunteers’painstaking efforts， the government’s support for the Yueyang Finless Porpoise Protection Association has been miniscule. Operating with debt of more than 1.2 million yuan， the group usually can’t cover costs for manpower and materials.

Actually， running such an organization would be even more difficult if not for Xu Yaping’s employment with Hunan Daily as its Yueyang bureau chief. According to Xu， everything that keeps the organization operating， including registration with the civil affair department and cooperation between volunteers and fishing authorities， was only accomplished thanks to his previouslyestablished personal relationships. Ever since the Yueyang Finless Porpoise Protection Association was born on January 8， 2012， Xu Yaping and his volunteers have been tracked by media.

Although public response has been overwhelmingly positive， Xu Yaping and his team still feel embarrassed when performing certain tasks. For example， as a private organization lacking law enforce- ment powers， they cannot stop illegal fishing immediately but can only call fishing authorities and wait， despite efforts to design a mechanism to guard the lake 24 hours a day.

Also， due to the lack of a rescue center and necessary compensation mechanism， it’s hard to get professional veterinarians to provide timely treatment for wild animals that are rescued in such a large area like Dongting Lake. Therefore， Xu turns to Duan Hua， head of Yueyang Vocational Technical College， for funds and facilities. To prevent finless porpoises from injury by fishing boats， Xu and his volunteers took money out of their own pockets to purchase more than 30 red flags and placed them in the lake according to the porpoises’ swimming routes， alerting boaters to slow down.

Despite all the frustration， Xu and his team are most worried about stagnation of a proposed plan to establish a special conservation zone for the finless porpoise in Dongting Lake. Having begged and pleaded with local fishery， forestry and conservation authorities， Xu Yaping is exasperated with the current management mode of Dongting Lake， wherein each department remains isolated and unaccountable. In his opinion， optimally efficient management would be a unified organization running on a scientific resource integration system and clear task arrangement.

Xu’s only relief from all these stresses is picturing a clean future for Yueyang Finless Porpoise Protection Association， which should focus on investigation， publicity， supervision and research. He hopes that governmental authorities will soon make big steps in environmental protection， at which time he and his staff will truly “lead a carefree life.”